Finding My Place
by sweetseptemberswimmer
Summary: What if Renee had had another daughter after the wedding. Now, sixteen years later, Scarlet has escape from an abusive foster home, just to find the sister her mother used to rave about. All Scarlet wants is a family. Can the Cullens give her just that?OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: okay, honestly this is my first story. Flame me if you want, I don't think it's that bad. The beginning is sort of confusing, but as it progresses it'll make more sense. Anyway I'm distracting you from reading. Just scroll down and read!**

**Disclaimer: dude, do I honestly describe myself as Stephenie Meyer? No? Then that means I'm not her.**

Chapter One

I sighed, and leaned my face against the brick wall I was hiding behind. Ten years of foster care, now I finally had the nerve to run away. Only one I was gone did I ask myself, _where do I go?_

I had heard of my sister of course, my mother used to rave about her right before she would abuse me. How she married the perfect man. How she had a great life in Alaska. How much she had wished I could've been like her. I was only five for God's sake.

I heard footsteps behind me, and I ran down the alley and out to the street behind. Sacramento was a large city, but it was hardly large enough to hide me. I was a magnet for danger. Not the type of danger my sister got in, of course not. She was an angel. I mean the type of danger only a foster kid in a large city could get into. Like being caught by Social Services and returned to yet another abusive home.

This time, though, I'd had enough. I was going to Alaska. I was going to find my sister. If she wasn't there… well at least I got out of the state.

The airport was only a couple blocks away. If I could make it there without being caught, I didn't have to worry. If I could only make it there….

As soon as I assured that I could run without someone following me, I darted out of the alleyway, and ran.

It seemed to take forever to get to the airport, and even longer to get a ticket. I didn't have a lot of stuff, and what I did have, fit perfectly into my backpack. As soon I got my ticket and checked through security.

I was on the plane before three in the morning. Sure I would miss my friends. They were my family, but nothing could be better than finding my sister. If she didn't care for me, I'd leave and come back here. As much as I hated it, what was I to expect? Nobody wanted a fifteen year old teenager who was described with an attitude problem and a 4.0 grade point average. As far as they were concerned the two didn't mix, and you don't bother with someone like that. I don't know where they got the attitude problem from. I hardly ever spoke unless I absolutely had to. I suppose they thought I was too stuck up for that sort of crap.

Less than half an hour later, the plane took off from the ground. After all these years, I was leaving behind my old life of abuse and short term housing arrangements, and entered a new life, possibly filled with hope and an actual family. I was only leaving one thing behind. Well, actually, one person.

"Good bye, Samuel," I whispered softly to nobody.

**Love it? Hate it? Let me know please!! I won't update unless I actually know people are going to read it… Pleasereview? Pretty pretty pretty please? i don't ask for much i just one five reviews before this monday, so i know if you really want an updat that badly.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Wow you guys are cool

**Wow you guys are cool. I go to a swim meet, and I come back and I have ten more hits then yesterday. Honestly, I never thought anyone would read it. Yeah I know, my self esteem is really low, but I'm allowed to be mean to myself… or at least I am right now. I didn't do very well this morning and I'm not in the best mood… anyway, Hope you enjoy this chapter! **

Chapter Two

By the time the plane landed, I was tired and sick of the way my brain kept over thinking everything. What if she wasn't here anymore? What if she moved back to Forks? What if, what if, what if… for the entire plane ride, that's all I could think about. But now, I had other things on my mind.

I picked my backpack up from baggage, and left the airport. I honestly had no idea where the hell I was going, but right now I didn't care. It was drizzling softly, and I smiled to myself. I'd always loved the rain, and living in California, you don't get a good amount of the rain I like. The kind of storms that lasts for weeks at a time. I'd never been a big fan of the sun, but now… right here, I could be happy for once.

I walked along the side of the road towards downtown Juneau. Once I got closer to the center of town, I noticed a bright yellow Porsche was following about twenty feet behind me in the lane right next to the shoulder.

I instantly dismissed the notion that they could be following me. No one I knew had a car that flashy… unless… no that's not possible. I shook my head clear of all thoughts and continued walking as if I'd never noticed the flashy Porsche.

I turned into a little café, and sat down at a table. The rain was starting to come down harder, and I decided to wait out the rain. As much as I loved it, I didn't need my stuff getting wet.

I watched as the driver parked the little Porsche out side the café, and climbed out.

The girl was short, much shorter than me, with spiky black hair and ocher colored eyes. She pushed open the door, and took one quick glance around the room. She locked eyes with me one fleeting second, then made her way over to where I was sitting.

_Aw god, what does she want?_

She stopped right in front of where I was sitting. I bowed my head to avoid making eye contact.

"Hi." Her voice was chipper and light.

"Hi," I mumbled softly.

"Mind if I sit here?" she was pointing to the seat across from me.

I shook my head. I wasn't going to be here long anyway.

"So… what are you doing here?" I looked, up, puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't know?" He stared at me. "Wow. Well, what are you doing here in Juneau?"

"I shrugged. "Finding my sister. May I ask why you feel the need to interrogate me?"

She laughed. "What aren't I allowed to be friendly?" I glared at her. "Okay obviously not. Whose your sister? Maybe I can help you find her."

I relented. Maybe she could help. "she fifteen years older then me, so you might not know her."

"Trust me. I know everyone." Her confidence was getting on my nerves.

"Her name's Bella. Bella Cullen or something."

I stared right into her eyes. Where shock was obvious.

"Bella doesn't have a sister." She stated plainly, disbelief obvious.

"Trust me, she does. If she didn't I wouldn't be here." I paused. "So you do know her?"

She ignored my second question. "But that's not possible. How could her mom keep something from her like that?"

"I don't know, but my mom had a lot of problems. She neglected me for about six years before social services took me away." I hissed the last part. I hated talking about my mother. I still had the scars from her neglect and abuse.

"What was her name?"

Renée Dwyer. My dad's was Phil. Happy?" I was getting seriously annoyed.

"Not really. What's your name?"

"Scarlet. Yours?"

"Alice Cullen."

Cullen… "You're related to my sister's husband, aren't you?"

"In a manner of speaking yes." She continued at my puzzled look. "I was adopted years ago by Dr. Cullen and his wife."

I nodded. "You're related to my sister… or sort of, anyway. What's she like?"

"Do you remember anything about your mother aside from the neglect and abuse?"

I shook my head. She nodded.

"Oh. Well if you had remembered the happy Renée, she was a real spazz at times. But a little overprotective. Bella's the exact opposite. She's smart and kind and really fun to play dress up with." Alice rambled.

"Play dress? You've got to be kidding me.

"Nope. I take her shopping and I buy her lot's of cool clothes. She's just so stubborn she won't where half of it."

"Then why do you buy it?"

"When you've got as much money as we do-." She stopped herself when she saw me grimace.

"Sorry. I forgot. You don't have a lot of money. Do you?" Alice looked genuinely sorry.

I shook my head. "I have about fifty bucks left over from an entire summer of coaching at the local pool, but that's about it."

She nodded.

"Anyway, do you want to go?"

God this girl could confuse me. "Go where?" My voice was wary.

"To go meet your sister of course!" she was spazzy, too.

"Uh… okay."

She stood up and grabbed my hand. "Let's go then!"

She dragged me out the door, towards the yellow Porsche. I noticed she had my backpack in her other hand.

Once she pushed me into the car, and she climbed in herself, it hit me. I was actually going to meet my sister.

**Okay… sooooo wadya think? I had Alice act really perky, because that's really how I portray her. Perky and fun loving, but the most of the time she's really serious and torturous… or at least she is when she's giving a makeover. Anyway, how do you guys think that the Cullens will react? Trust me, it's not going top be what you'll expect. I think the next chapter is the best so far… especially Rosalie. It's almost done. It'll probably be up by tomorrow morning. I have to go get ready for the banquet.**

**Also, I have no idea if that's what Juneau really looks like. I live on the east coast, as much as I would love to live in Forks. If anyone wants to correct me go right ahead. The majority of the story doesn't take place in the actual town, but some people enjoy to criticize me. Anyway, I hope you liked it. review please. reviews make me smile! Till the next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

So here's the third chapter

**So here's the third chapter. I got bored and decided to past this. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy. The story is short right now, but I pray it'll get longer. Who wants to read about rose flipping out? Oh yeah, I didn't do a disclaimer in my last chapter. Sorry… but you all know twilight doesn't belong to me, right? No? Fine here's a disclaimer from the last chapter, and one for this one**

**Disclaimer 1: No, my name is sadly not Stephenie Meyer, there for, I do not own twilight.**

**Disclaimer 2: I may own a copy of twilight, but I do not own the copyrights. That happy privilege belongs to Mrs. Meyer.**

**Are you people content now? Yes? Then on with the story.**

Chapter Three

Alice drove through the town at lightning speeds. When I glanced at the speedometer, the needle was creeping towards 130. I shivered and shook my head.

The car slowed to a stop. I opened my eyes, which, until now, I hadn't realized I'd closed.

We were parked in front of a beautiful beige brick house. Well, it was hardly a house, more of a small mansion. It rose three stories up from the ground.

I hadn't realized Alice had climbed out of the car until she was standing right next to me.

"Are you coming?"

I nodded. She opened the door. I climbed out and smiled my thanks.

"Don't be nervous. They'll love you."

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Uh… just a feeling." I went along with the excuse, but I knew it was a lie.

She pushed open the door, and called "I'm home guys!" her voice was cardly louder then it was just a moment ago.

"How can they here you?"

"Trust me, they will."

I glanced around the room Alice led me in to. It was a large, open room. In one corner was a piano, resting on a slightly raised platform. The rest of the room the room was furnished with matching furniture sets and a huge flatscreen television.

"Wow." The word escaped my lips.

"You like it?"

I turned when I heard the voice. It was warm and motherly, a tone I'd never heard before.

"Ye- yes ma'am," I said.

"Oh please, call me Esme."

I nodded.

"Hey Alice," A huge bear of a teenager came running into the room. He paused when he saw me "What's up with the kid?"

I blushed and bent my head, letting my hair shield me from his eyes.

"Wow she blushes just like Bella used too." He paused. "Alice…?"

"Shut up Emmett, I'll explain in a minute."

"But-."

"You heard Alice, Emmett." A tall, pretty teenager came down the curved staircase.

"Thank you, Rose." Alice smiled.

I shook my head. These people were giving me a headache.

"Why don't you sit down?" Esme offered. I nodded.

Another four people came downstairs. Apparently, these were the people Alice was waiting for.

"Who's she?" a bronze haired boy asked. He paused for a minute, before hissing, "Alice, you must explain."

"Shut up Edward, I will."

A brown haired girl stared at me for a moment, then sat in a chair across from me.

I felt weird, sitting in a chair with all these beautiful people, in their beautiful home. I felt weird.

"Bella," Alice addressed the brown haired girl across from me. Now that I thought about it, she looked a little like my mom. Or at least like my mom when she was younger. "Do you remember seeing your mother at the wedding?"

"Of course I do, Alice." Bella answered.

"Well, hmm…how to put this… this is your sister," Alice rambled, waving her hand in my direction.

I allowed my hair to fall in front of my face again. I could feel Bella's eyes staring curiously at me.

"I don't have a sister." Her tone wasn't cold, just disbelieving.

"Call your mother if you don't believe me. I don't think Scarlet would tell you. She's too shy for her own good."

"Fine I will." Bella whipped out a cell phone and hit a button on it. The ringing was loud; she must have put it on speaker.

"Hello?" My stomach knotted. I'd only heard that voice in my nightmares. Now, it'd come back to haunt me.

"Hey mom," Bella put the phone down on the table.

"Hi Bella sweetie! How's everything?" I closed my eyes. I didn't want to hear her talk, but I didn't want to be rude. Best to ignore it… even if it might seem impossible.

"Great mom. I have a question." Bella spoke gently. She seemed nice enough.

"Well," Renée's voice turned icy.

"After the wedding… did you have another child?" Bella was short and too the point. Not like me. I normally would beat around the bush and get twice as shy as usual.

There was a long pause during which nobady in the room breathed, when finally the answer came.

"Yes."

**Well? Do you like it? I know not the best chapter but tenn me what you think. I'd love to know. Review please. I love hearing your thoughts. I'll update again tomorrow. Right now, I'm off to my pool for the banquet. Latrz people!**


	4. Chapter 4

Omc guys last night was awesome

**Omc guys last night was awesome. I was all depressed yesterday because these two brats of this group that I call the entourage beat me at the biggest swim meet of the summer. Then, I went to the banquet last night, and all my real friends were doing their best to cheer me up, and decided the best way to do that, was to create our own group that they called the clique. Anyway, I got a trophy with two eagles on it (to get a trophy you have to swim in two meets, to get an eagle to have to earn 3 points at a Saturday meet ((the fast swimmers meets)) and two get two eagles you have to earn at least thirty points for your team.) anyway I also got the finish to the wall award, and paper plate awards (really funny awards the coaches come up with) that said the twilight girls award (me and another girl got it) and a plaque for finishing sixth in the meet. Anyway, I log on this morning, and find out more people have read this than ever. You guys are awesome, so I am awarding you with a new chapter enjoy!**

Chapter Four

Shocked silence filled the room. Emmett was the first to talk.

"So… does this mean I get a new little sister?"

"Shut up Emmett!" the blond girl –Rose? - thumped him on the back of his head of a satisfying smack. "Be polite!"

Bella leaned forward, placing her head in her hands. "I just don't understand how this could've happened."

"Well you see whe-."

"SHUT UP, EMMETT!" Alice and the bronze haired boy roared so loud it made me flinch.

"Alice! Edward! There's no need to be that loud," Esme reprimanded.

"Sorry, mom. We won't do it again." The two replied simultaneously.

I shook my head again. These people were creeps.

"Would someone care to explain?" A blond man asked.

Alice nodded. "Er… I suppose that I'd been having visions of here for a while… I didn't know who she was though. So… I just sort of blocked it from my memory. Then the visions stopped, and it bothered me at first, then I just let it go-."

"What were these visions of?" the bronze haired boy asked. He paused for a moment. "Oh. That little-."

"Language, Edward!" Esme look disapproving.

"Right, sorry mom!"

"What were they about?" a blond teenager asked.

"Uh… well… at first I thought it was someone who resembled your mother, Bella, then I realize it was Renée… Renée neglecting and abusing her… then social services coming to take her away… they stopped after that. They started up again recently. But it was Renée, it was a new woman." Alice paused. "Scarlet," she addressed me. I bent my head even more, trying to hind my face. "Who was this woman?"

"My foster mom," I paused momentarily, forcing the cursed name to my lips. They still twisted around it. "Morgan."

Bella looked at me. Everyone did. I blushed furiously, and allowed my hair to cover my face.

"Alice, why don't you show her to one of the guest bedrooms?" Esme offered nicely.

Alice squealed and jumped up and down, clapping. "You mean it? She can stay?!"

Esme, nodded smiling.

"Yay!" Alice grabbed my hand and dragged my up the curved staircase.

She led me down a long hallway, pointing out the rooms as she passed them.

"-my room… Emmett and Rosalie's room… Edward and Bella's room… Jasper's room… Carlisle's study… here, how bout this room?"

Alice pushed open he door to a beautifully furnished room. The walls were painted pale blue, the bed covers, and carpet matching. The head board, footboard, and virtually everything else in the large room were white.

"Aw, Alice, thank you."

"No problem," Alice flashed me a devious grin. "I'll take you shopping later." She waved a hand, indicating my holey jeans, and oversized sweatshirt.

I nodded, and she left.

I went into the bathroom to take a shower, by the time I climbed out, and redressed, the digital clock on the nightstand by the bed read five thirty.

I laid back against the bed, trying to absorb everything that had happened. I still couldn't believe I had actually _run away_. I couldn't belive I had actually left Samuel. At least he was safe, staying in a boys' home down the street… I'd call him tomorrow, I decided.

There was a soft knock on the dorr.

I jumped and bolted straight upright.

Bella pushed the door open. The bronze haired boy-Edward?- stood next to her. "Can we talk to you?"

**So not the best chapter… but it does explain a little bit, doesn't it? Review please! I'm still euphoric from last night, but that doesn't mean that your reviews don't put a tue smile on my face! Oh,m and sorry to any one named Morgan... don't think of yourself as an antagonist, i just thought the name fit the character nicely. Sorry again!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Morning guys

**Evening, my readers. Man I'm tired. Swim season's officially over and that means tomorrow I have field hockey camp!! Yay tonight is my last night of insomnia for a week… then breaking dawn comes out, then I have to baby-sit one of my younger friends… anyone else want to see what's going to happen in this chapter? I forgot to do a disclaimer in the last chapter again. Man those things get ANNOYING!! Ya'll know Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, right? And that, since my name ISN'T stephenie…. Nor is my last name Meyer, I have no claim on the series. Anyway, no with the chapter!**

Chapter Five

I nodded, and Bella and Edward came into the room. I sat up and leaned against the overstuffed pillows. To give them room.

"It's Scarlet, right?" Bella asked. I nodded.

"Scarlet Sapphire, but I honestly don't care what you call me."

"Sapphire… what do your friends call you Sapphy?" Edward asked, snickering.

I just gave him a hard stare.

"You don't have any friends, do you?"

I shook my head. "Just one and he lived in the boys' home down the street. And no, he didn't call me _Sapphy_," I paused. "He called me Scar."

"Because of the abuse?" I nodded.

We were all quiet for a minute. The more I looked at Bella, the more I could see a slight resemblance. The shape of our faces, any way. Her hair was a darker brown then mine, though. Mine looked like honey mixed with chocolate. It was such a strange shade. Her eyes were gold. As were Edward's. Mine were bluish-green.

The thing that got me though, was how they were all strikingly beautiful, how they all had gold eyes; how they all looked like teenagers even though i was sure they would be at least thirty something years old; they were all so pale….

What was up with these people?

After a few more moments of silence, I finally spoke up. "What is it with you people?"

Edward looked at me, curiously.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You're all so pale… and even though none of you are related, you all have gold eyes… and you all so perfect… and so young." As I spoke aloud, I realized how stupid it sounded.

Edward and Bella both paused then, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Bella spoke softly.

"Try me." I wasn't scared of them… unless they were wanted homicidal criminals…. God, I have got to stop letting my imagination get the better of me.

"Would you believe me if I told you we were all vampires?" Bella asked.

"I would actually."

Edward looked at me with surprise. "You would? What, no questions? No crazed screaming, running from the house? No… reaction?"

"You'd be surprised with what my imagination can come up with. I've always believed in mythical creatures. Just saying that you're vampires doesn't frighten me." I paused for a second. "And I do to have questions. Also, my reactions have never been that outlandish. I prefer to keep to myself."

Edward nodded. "Your questions?"

"Do you… you know... feed off of humans? What can you all do? Do you go outside in the daytime? Or does the sunlight hurt you, so you chose a rainy place to stay? Also, how old are you? Honestly?" The questions just jumped off my tongue, I hardly had any idea what I was saying.

"No we don't feed off of humans… nice wording by the way. We drink the blood from animals, but only where there's an overabundance of them. We do enjoy the sunlight, but we can't go outside during it, or it'll expose our entire species. On the sunny days, we'll either go hunting or just hang around in the woods. I'm a hundred and twenty-one years old. Carlisle found me dying in a hospital in Chicago back in 1918. I was seventeen when he turned me. Bella is the youngest. She's only thirty four. I bit her after we got married." He paused for a second. "Does that answer all your questions?"

"Hardly. Can you all… I don't know… like, read minds or something?" I'd gotten the feeling earlier on that Alice and Edward were having a private conversation in their head, but I wasn't sure.

"Well… I can read minds, Alice can see possible futures, depending on if the person changes their minds or the path that they're on, Jasper can toggle with the motions of other people… and vampires and Bella… well she can project a force field around people's minds to stop them me reading their minds… or from other… more forceful vampire attacks." Edward answered.

I nodded.

Bella was the next to speak. "I want to know what really has gone on with your life… everything."

"I suppose I can tell you that. You answered some of my questions.

"I was born a little more than fifteen years ago on June twelfth. My mother… never carries through with things so when she had me… she had a bit of a mental breakdown. I suppose you could call her bipolar if you wanted to break it down logically enough. She showed signs of a it… I didn't know that when I was little though. She would leave me locked in a closet for hours while she went out to watch my father's team's games. When she got home, she'd usually be drunk, and would abuse me. By the time I was five, and went to school, she went out more often, leaving me home more and more.

"One morning, I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and my teacher saw some of the bruises. After class, she pulled me aside and asked if my parents were hurting me. I was young, so I didn't know any better than to tell the truth. The teacher nodded and let me go." I paused for a moment.

"What grade were you in?" Edward asked.

"First. I skipped a grade. I spent a lot of long nights home. I had to teach my self to do something."

He nodded, then motioned for me to continue.

I obliged. "I was put in a nice foster home, but the social worker obviously found something wrong with it. I was put in foster home after foster home, never making friends because I never stayed in a town long enough to really trust someone.

"I went over seas to England for a little while, to a boarding school. But, I didn't stay longer than a semester when I was placed in a home in Sacramento.

"I hated it there. It was too sunny. I enjoy the rain, and all the sun annoyed me. I made friends with a boy who lived in the boys' home down the street, Samuel. I stayed in the home for a year, getting abused, but never telling anyone about. Samuel was almost as klutzy as I was, but just as smart. We were both in the tenth grade, even though he was only a week older than me. We were lab partners in science, which is basically how ipur friendship started. He had to tutor me in math, too. I suck at it.

"A couple nights ago, _she_ hurt me so badly that when she was sleeping, I snuck out. My only thoughts were getting away from her, I forgot about Samuel. It wasn't until the plane was taxiing down the runway that I remembered.

"I came here and Alice found me. My mother used to rave about you, Bella. I thought it might be worth a shot to come here and at least meet you. I've never had a real family before. I just wanted to meet my sister." I stopped. I despised reliving my childhood. at least they hadn't asked about any of the nights when _she_ would come home drunk I was sure that if they had, my nightmare's would start up again.

"Aw, Scarlet, everyone here likes you. I think even Rosalie does. It takes her forever to warm up to the idea of a human being around here. Stay as long as you want. Alice will love having the play toy." They both stood up to leave. Bella paused near the door. "And I'll enjoy having a sister."

She gave me a warm smile, then closed the door, I stretched out my long legs and snuggled deeper into the pillows. This bed was really comfortable. Before I knew it, I was drifting off to sleep.

**Ta da. BTW if you've ever seen Sabrina the Teenage Witch, when Sabrina's in college, the brownish blond her hair is, yeah that the color of Scarlet's hair. I love that hair color. Anyway, please review! I would love it if I could get a least ten more reviews before Wednesday, considering I won't have time to update till next Monday at the latest. If I get a little window of time, I'll work as hard as I can, but don't expect much until Wednesday at the ealiest. Latrz, my dinner's ready!**


	6. Chapter 6

Omc you guys ROCK

**OMC you guys ROCK. I wake up this morning, to find I have 200 hits, and five more reviews. You guys are demanding another chapter. I know, parts can seem confusing, but it'll make more sense as the story progresses. Well… that's all I have to say except… I HOPE that I don't break anything tonight. Like last time. Stupid girl hit me with her stick in an idiotic attempt to get the ball. She fractured my thumb, but I got the ball and the goal. Yay, white team! She wasn't at practice last night for me to kill her. All we did was the ficking basics I learned when I was in the fourth grade. As soon as I get paid I am soooo buying a new stick. My sister'sold stick is three inches too short. Stupid, short twenty-five years old. (I am the youngest.) enough rambling scroll down and read! Oh, and I decided to have some fun with the disclaimer so… enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Alice: Hi Jasper! Guess what!**

**Jasper: Aw, Alice, I hate guessing games. What is it?**

**Alice: Stephenie Meyer owns us!**

**Jasper exasperated I didn't need a psychic to tell me that. All I had to do was look on the cover of the book….**

Chapter Six

_I was sitting on the floor, in my bedroom. A book lay out in front of me. I heard the door open downstairs. I got up and locked my door. I didn't need anything done to me tonight. My teachers were all ready suspicious. I didn't need another hospital trip, either._

_The lock didn't really work, considering there was a keyhole on the other side. It might delay her for a moment, but if she wants to badly enough, she could just get the key._

_That's exactly what she did._

_  
The key turned in the lock, clicking. She pushed it open. I scampered as far away as I could, hiding in a corner. Stupid move I couldn't escape._

_She started walking toward me, unsteadily. I could tell she was drunk. _

_I knew what was coming. I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain to start-_

I sat bolt upright, disoriented in the dark room. After a moment, I remembered where I was. I was in Juneau, Alaska, more than four thousand miles away from that child abuser.

After a moment, I could make out loud voices talking downstairs.

"- don't see why she can't go stay at a motel six down the street or whatever. Why do we have to let her stay here?"

"Rosalie!" Esme disapproving voice was reprimanding. "She's Bella's sister. Do you want her to have to go back to an abusive foster home now that she knows that we exist?"

"But what if she tells someone about that? It's not fair, first Bella, now her. Why can't we just keep to ourselves?"

"That's enough, Rosalie!" Bella nearly shouted. "I'm sick of this. She has _nothing_. There no reason why we can't take care of her. She's my sister, for god's sake!"

"Aw, c'mon, Rosie. There's no reason why we can't have a human in the house… and if she's related to Bella… well I miss having the klutzy humans around here. Please Rosie? You don't have to be too nice. Just let her stay. I want someone new to beat at Guitar Hero! Jasper is too easy now a days." Emmett's voice became playful at the end.

"Hey! I resent that. How do you know I don't just _let_ you win?" Jasper asked.

"Why would you do that?" I could just imagine the huge grin slide off of Emmett's face when Jasper said that.

"Because none like's to be around you when you lose."

"Boys! That's enough!" Esme stopped the playful banter. "Rosalie, I'm sorry but she's staying. She has nowhere else to go. Edward, what grade is she in?"

"Tenth, I think. I'll ask her in the morning." Apparently, Esme nodded in response.

"Well, then, that's enough. Edward, why don't you play something? You hardly play anymore."

"But mom." Edward put on a fake whinny voice.

"Please play something Edward? I haven't heard you play in so long." Bella begged.

"Fine."

Sweet, soft music filled the house, pulling me back to sleep.

When I woke up, rain was beating against the side of the house. All I wanted to do was curl back up and go back to sleep. I didn't even bother to open my eyes.

"Scarlet!" Emmett's booming voice made me jump, and hurt my head when it banged against the headboard.

I open my eyes, and saw Emmett standing not twenty feet away from me, leaning against the doorframe.

"Please tell me you just ran there _after _you yelled my name." I hissed. My head was starting to hurt.

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'.

"Emmett…" I considered threatening him, but what sort of threat would a vampire fear… I though back to that bizarre conversation I somewhat overheard last night. He hated to loose….

"Emmett, up for a game of guitar hero?"

"Hell yes!" he punched his fist in the air.

Before I was even at the door he was downstairs, hooking a Wii up to the huge flat screen.

The younger of the two blond vampires came downstairs. "Emmett, why are you making me feel all giddy and excited?"

"Because, Jazz, Scarlet agreed to play me at Guitar Hero!"

"Ph, god, I hope she knows what she's getting herself into. And do not call me Jazz!"

"What? Only Alice can?"

Jasper paused. "No."

"JASPER WHITLOCK HALE!" a shriek tore down the stairs and echoed in the large open room.

"Fine! Yes."

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. This was just too random.

Emmett handed me a remote. "You _do _know who to play this, right?"

"Of course I do, Emmett. Anyone with half a brain knows how to use it, too."

"Wow, Emmett. She barely knows you, and she just described you perfectly." Jasper snickered.

Emmett scrolled down and hit expert. "I want to see you beat me a this."

"Okay… don't worry, you will."

"Pretty confident, aren't we?"

"Of course I am." I rolled my eyes exaggeratedly.

We started playing. Emmett was good, but my score always stayed higher than his. By the time we finished all three songs, his score was only one point lower than mine.

"How the hell did that happen?" Emmett asked.

"Uh, let me guess, she's better than you?" Jasper suggested sarcastically.

"But… she's just a human!"

"You got a problem with humans?" I asked standing up on my tiptoes to just barely look him in the eye.

"No… until they beat me at Guitar Hero!" Emmett was acting like the little kids at the boys' home when someone took their animal crackers.

"Deal with it."

"Wow. She beat you, and told you." Jasper laughed.

"We get it, Jasper!" Emmett growled. He really looked more like a grizzly than a teddy bear.

"Shut up guys! God, you two can get annoying!" I practically yelled.

"Gee thanks." Emmett mumbled, but he did shut up.

"Welcome to my world, except you, can sleep." Bella came downstairs with Alice. "We have to listen to this all night long. Anyway, are you hungry?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"C'mon then," Bella smiled.

"Scarlet, do you want to go shopping?"

"No, Alice. Unless you enjoy shopping at a Speedo shop or a Sports Authority. Or a Borders."

"Figures… what is with you all hating shopping?"

"I don't hate it Alice… I just prefer shopping for specific things… like books for instance."

"I'll take you to the book shop if you go shopping with me."

"Alice, I am fifteen years old. I think I can find a bookstore."

"But you need new clothes… and I have no idea about what you like!"

"Alice, you're a psychic!"

"But, Scarlet!"

"Fine Alice. I'll go. But, we have to stop by a Sports Authority or a Modell's. Or a Borders."

Alice pouted for a minute. "Okay!"

Bella leaned in a whispered, "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

"I nodded. "I probably don't."

**I have no clue how to play guitar hero. My brother doesn't even let me touch his Wii. My friend showed me once… or was about to, when we had to go back to a swim meet when the rain stopped. This chapter is kind of like the calm before the storm. It was a lot of fun to write, but the next one has a lot more drama. Also, I have no idea if they even have these stores in Alaska… if anyone who lives there cares to correct me, I will listen. I can't believe I actually got this thing up before Wednesday. Field hockey camp is sooooooo much fun, but my mom won't buy me a new hockey stick, and coaching six year olds only pays so much. I wish we could play a scrimmage… as long as they put me on forward, we would win. Oh well maybe tonight. Three days until breaking dawn comes out… also, Scarlet's about five' six" so she's actually taller then Bella, but not by much. Anyway, I gotta go. Off to babysit! ( stupid evil cousins….) oh also... i love it when you guys review... so if you pretty pretty pretty please with a giant strawberry on top review i would be the happiest writer on all of fanfiction. please?? I'm beggin you guys. you're all awesome, and i love to hear your thoughts. reveiwing helps make the story better!! it helps me look over my errors. review please!! i'll let you steal a kiss from jasper... well once i get him away from alice, anyway...  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Hi guys

**Hi guys. Wow I have more than three hundred hits. I never even thought I'd get one! Anyway, just a couple more days until the much awaited release of breaking dawn. My sister is dragging me off to the party, so I am going to be very sleep deprived for babysitting my friend Claire that night. Did you guys like the disclaimer in the last chapter?? I did. I had fun putting jasper into it. Remember, that chapter was a little bit dull because it was the calm before the actual storm. Who wants to read about the storm? I do… oh wait. I'M the one writing this… who wants to read what I've written?? You do? Then scroll down and read…**

**My name is not on the cover of twilight, so therefore, I do not own it.**

Chapter Seven

By the time we got home, Alice had dragged me to every designer clothes store I would agree to let her buy me clothes from. I didn't like half the crap they sold in stores now. What's wrong with a track jacket and a pair of jeans over a baby doll shirt? That's virtually what my whole wardrobe was back in California. Curse you, stupid shopaholic vampire.

When we pulled into the driveway, the rain was starting up again. I did get Alice to take me to the local swim shop so I did get a couple of new Splish bathing suits… and some new caps… and goggles. The one shop I'm actually excited to go into and Alice buys me whatever I want. Now I just had to get her to enroll me in high school. It was still early October. Swimming didn't start until November. I had plenty of time.

Emmett was still sulking when I went up to the guest bedroom. I just couldn't come to think of it as my room. I had a feeling I wouldn't be staying here long. I never stayed in one place too long.

Jasper was still congratulating me about when Alice shooed him away. In ten minutes she had every bag emptied out and organized in the closet. Even at vampire speed, it wasn't natural how fast she emptied every single bag. She bought too many clothes. There was no way half of that stuff would ever see daylight again.

When Esme called me down for dinner, I had Emmett follow me. If he wanted to make amends for his behavior, I didn't want to hear it. Who could stay mad at the big teddy bear?

Instead, he inquired about everything I ate. Especially the stuffing.

"What does that stuff taste like? It looks _disgusting_. I don't know how you humans live without your grizzly blood. It's good an-." I cut Emmett off.

"Enough Emmett! I am trying to eat here, and I don't enjoy having visions of blood trickling from the side of your mouth in my head while I do so!"

"Sorry, Scarlet." Emmett gave me his five year old grin.

"Smile like that again and I'll make you eat this."

A look of horror crossed his. "Please no! Please?"

"Fine." I went back to eating.

After dinner, I played Jasper at Mario Kart. He creamed me in all the races. I didn't care, I had fun… until he sent waves of sadness at me.

"Jasper, watch where you're channeling emotions."

"Whoops sorry." Immediately, I felt happier.

I watched Bella play Edward until I practically fell asleep. When I snapped back to awareness, they were done with they're game, and Emmett was playing Jasper.

I remembered that song I heard last night. The one Edward played. It sounded a lot like one of the songs I'd learned to play on my clarinet… but a lot different. Just the tune was the same. it sounded so much better on the piano.

"I think it's time for the human, to go to sleep."

Edward's voice cut through y thoughts. I looked up at him, startled.

"That depends. What time is it?"

"It's almost two o' clock in the morning. Way past the human's bedtime."

"You know, the human has a name."

"Of course she does. Scarlet, go get your butt in bed before I drag you up there. Content?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" I did a mock military salute and headed off to bed.

I woke up exceedingly late the following morning. The digital clock on the bedside table said it was almost noon.

Sun filtered in through my window. Great. A sunny day. And it's a Monday.

I climbed out of the soft, comfortable bed, and walked over to the window. The forest surrounding the house was actually really pretty in the sunlight. It looked nice.

My eyes glanced down to the large dirt driveway. Only a silver Volvo was parked out in the sunlight.

And an old, beat up, Mercury Sable.

_Aw crap._

I'd seen that car before. It's a car I'd been shoved into on several occasions. The car that took me away from nice foster parents to others, less kinder ones.

It was the car of the Social worker.

She'd found me here.

I pulled open the door. I ran down the hallway to the top of the steps.

Sitting on the couch, was the social worker. I hid against the wall, and crept back to the room.

If I strained my ears, I could hear what they were talking about, even though I already knew. Me.

"- look, I know that she's here. Can you all just tell her to come down here so we can leave?"

"Of course not. Scarlet belongs here with her sister. She's the last part of her family that she can trust." Esme's voice was firm.

"I understand that, but I have a concerned foster mother back in Sacramento who would be devastated if Scarlet didn't come home."

I snorted. Concerned? She probably just missed her abuse toy.

"So? What if we adopt her?" Bella asked.

"You would actually be willing to take in a temperamental teenager?"

"Scarlet is _not _temperamental! She's perfectly normal… just a little shy." Alice's high voice was angry.

"Of course she is." The social worker was acting as if she was talking to a kindergarten class. "Could one of you just bring her down her so we can leave?"

"I don't see why we aren't allowed to adopt her," Carlisle was calm.

"Because, if you must know, that foster mother I'm supposed to get her back to, has already filed for her adoption."

_Aw, shit_. I absolutely despised that woman. Bella might as well loose control and suck my body dry of my blood. I'd rather die that way than any other way.

"Bella, you heard her. Go on and get Scarlet." I was going to murder Carlisle. How could he suggest I go back to that woman?

"But Carlisle-."

"Go, Bella."

I heard Bella come up the stairs. It wasn't until she opened the door that I realized I was crying.

"I know." Bella ran her hand through my hair, pulling out the loose strands. "Just, trust Carlisle on this one. He has a plan. But, you have to go back. It's the only way we can do this. C'mon. Grab some of the stuff Alice and I bought you and you and I can go down stairs."

She watched silently as I threw random clothes into my old backpack. Once I had it zipped up, she took it from me.

"Go wash your face first," she ordered. "I don't want her to see that you've been crying."

I obliged, going into the bathroom and scrubbing my face. When I came out, Bella looked ready to break.

"Let's go, then." When she spoke, her voice cracked.

I nodded. I followed her downstairs, to where the social worker was waiting. Bella handed me my backpack.

"Let's go Scarlet," she grabbed me by my arm and pulled me towards the door.

I yanked my arm free. "I can walk by myself, thank you." I rubbed the spot where her nails had cut in.

"Then hurry up." She snapped, then turned back to the Cullens. "I'm so sorry she just turned up like that. It won't ahpopen a gain."

"It was no trouble. We enjoyed having her." Carlisle put on a fake smile that seemed to appease the social worker.

"Well, good-bye then!"

She waved to the Cullens. As I climbed in the front seat of the car, I shot the Cullens one final look.

"Good bye." I whispered.

**Uh-oh. Now she has to go back to an abusive foster home. Worse, the abuser is going to adopt her… or is she? Find out… as soon as I update cause my field hockey camp isn't even half over. My body hurts all over. I have a bruise the size of an apple of my knee from when I tripped over my own stick when we were playing keep away. Next week you all should get a chapter almost every day. Just not this week. I'll update twice on Sunday to make up for the lose (sp?). Anyway, did you like this chapter? I would hardly call this the storm… but the next chapter involves a lot of darker themes… and more info of the awesome Samuel! Also jasper has a lot more control now, so he can be closer to humans without having to worry about killing them. Well, latr I have to run. I have to head up to the barn for my lesson! Bye!! And review!! if i could get one review, anonymous or other wize, from ever person who reads this chapter, i'll stay up extra late tomorrow night and work really hard to get the best chapter yet posted!  
**


	8. Chapter 8

Hey guys

**Hey guys. Boy, do my muscles hurt. Anyway, we did scrimmages last Wednesday, just like I hoped we would. The retarded coaches treat me like I've never played before, (I've been playing for four years! And I'm good!) And put me on the awful team for the mini scrimmages. I scored three goals why the other team got none. Then we all joined together to play one big scrimmage and I was still on the awful team, but we had Victoria and she rocks! Yay Vicky! Anyway, she scored our first goal, and then the yellow team scored and we were tied and then, in the last twenty seconds, I smacked the ball into the goal and we got the point! Anyway, you all probably don't want to hear about my field hockey ramblings. You all are here to read about Scarlet, not my triumphs. So scroll down and read!**

**As much as I love twilight, it is, unfortunately, not mine. It belongs to the wonderful stephenie meyer!**

Chapter Eight

"See now, Scarlet, isn't this much better than Alaska? It's always so cold up there. It's so nice here. I know how much you love the sun," the social worker rambled on. I swear, this woman was missing half of her brain, and apparently, it was the common sense half.

"Hardly." I muttered. "I prefer the rain."

"Of course you do," she replied distractedly. "Here we are."

The beat up old car rolled to a stop.

"Well, get out Scarlet."

I climbed out of the car and slammed the door. "I was happier in Alaska," I muttered angrily. Screw this retarded woman and everything she'd done to make my life a living hell.

Morgan stood at the door, her red hair in disarray… but it wasn't the way her hair normally got screwed up. It was too perfect, like she had place each hair like that right before the car has pulled up.

"Scarlet?" she put on a fake worried voice. God, how was that _I_ could see through her lies, when a _forty-something_ year old social worker couldn't? Some people were just blissfully ignorant. I was not one of those people.

"Oh, Scarlet! It is you!" she ran out with her arms open wide. I ducked out of her way. She spun around and locked her arms around my neck, practically cutting off my airways. Her wild hair pressed all around me. God, it was hot. I was just about to punch her in the gut when she let go of me.

"Oh Scarlet! I'd been so worried!" she exaggerated. "But you'll never have to do that again!"

_Oh yes I will, _I thought bitterly. _The next time you try to hurt me; I'm going to video tape it._

"Well, I'll leave you two be," the social worker called cheerily as she got in her car and drove off.

Morgan dragged up the steps. "Good-bye!" she weaved before shoving me through the open door.

She shut the door and turned the lock. I heard it clock into place.

She rounded on me.

"What the _hell_ where you thinking?" she asked. She started walking towards me. I backed up. She stretched out one hand and smacked me across the face with such force it threw me backwards. I landed on my arm. Hard. I swear, I could almost hear it crack.

She stood over me. "Oh, well, I know it won't happen again." She stepped down hard on my side, before she vanished.

It'd been like this before. Except usually, she wasn't sober. Normally she'd gotten drunk to the point where she couldn't even stand, but as soon as she would see me, she would attack me. I expected it then. I even expected it now… I just didn't expect her to break my wrist.

I pulled myself up with my good hand. My side hurt every time I breathed. My wrist was starting to swell.

"I climbed the stairs as best as I could, trying unsuccessfully to get up without triggering another bout of pain.

I pulled an ice pack out of the upstairs freezer as I headed towards my room here. I wrapped the pack around my wrist, trying to bring the swelling down. I pulled an old brace out of a drawer. I'd put it on once I got the swelling to go down a bit.

I pulled up my T-shirt to check my side. A huge bruise was blossoming across my skin.

I grabbed two Advil out of the open jar on my bedside table.

With my good hand, I started pulling my clothes out of my backpack. At the bottom, I found a note.

_Scarlet,_

_Be CAREFUL!! I don't think I can say that enough. We're coming for you as soon as possible. If anything happens, TELL US. Carlisle can have her arrested for child abuse. You know that. I just can't understand why you haven't told anybody yet. Just hang in there for a few more days. It won't be long. I promise. _

_Your sister,_

_Bella_

It was from Bella. She must've slipped it in my backpack when I handed it to her.

The Cullen's were coming for me. They were going to try to get Morgan arrested. They were going to come and save me.

Or at, least, they said they were.

I threw myself back against the bed. I hated this place. It wasn't home. My home was in Alaska. Alaska was _my place_. The one place I could live happily away from the sun. The one place I wanted to be.

I groaned when the phone rang. It was right next to my bed, and the ring was _loud._ I snatched it up before it could give me a headache.

"Hello?" I mumbled.

"Scarlet?' I knew that voice.

"Samuel?"

"Scarlet! When did you get home?" Samuel, at least, seemed overjoyed.

"About twenty minutes ago, after a long flight of verbal abuse, and when I get here, I am physically abused by my new _mother_." I sneered the word, letting every once of hatred I possessed slide into my voice.

"Holy _shit_." Samuel cursed. "Why the hell does she do that?"

"Who knows? Honestly, aside from you, no one cares about me." I knew it was a lie. The Cullens cared. Or, at least, they acted liked hey did.

"Hey, maybe my dad could file for child abuse." Samuel suggested. "He's a doctor up at some hospital. He handles this kind of thing."

"Your dad? You actually got adopted?"

"Yup. I know, I'm still in shock."

"Well that makes two of us then. She is my legal guardian now. I am stuck as her abuse toy for the next three years." I pulled the ice pack off my wrist to see if the swelling had gone down any. It hadn't.

"_Damn_. That friggin' _sucks_. Scarlet, if she keeps up with this, she could eventually kill you. You know that, right?"

"Of course I know that. I'm not an idiot." I paused for a moment. "What hospital does he work at?"

"Err… well… actually… it's not here in Sacramento… it's up in Washington." He mumbled.

"Washington?" I hissed.

"Yes." Was his feeble reply.

"I can't believe this. You get to go to rainy Washington, while I'm stuck here, with stupid of Morgan in sunny California!"

"Aw, Scar, I'm really sorry. I didn't ask for any of this to happen. This dude has two other kids he's adopted. Adam and Allen. Anyway, they're cool and all, but they're older than me. Like, almost seventeen. And they play football. And they're cousins, so they've known each other for a while now. I'll be the outsider."

"You'll survie." I muttered.

"Anyway… where did you run off to this weekend?"

"Juneau."

"_Alaska_?"

"Yup."

Wow."

"Mhm." I didn't feel like taking anymore. Or at least, not while we were on this subjest.

"So… I won't be in town much longer. You want to hook up tonight. Sort of like a good-bye thing?"

I nodded, which was completely pointless as he couldn't see me. "Sure. I'd like that."

"Sweet. I'll see you tonight. Can you meet me at the pizza shop a couple blocks from your house?"

"All right, then."

"Later, Scar."

"By Sam."

I hung up the phone, feeling worse than I had before he called.

**Aww poor scarlet. I feel bad for her. Anyway. Samuel is her best friend… and she really likes him. But, like most relationships, she's scarred to tell him. Now she's sad that he has to move. Anyone want to take a wild guess to where he's moving in Washington? Anyone? I'll dedicate the next chapter to everyone who reviews and gets it right!!**

**OMC I actually had a good ten hours of sleep last night. I'm soooo happy!! My insomnia didn't bother me like it has all week, and my muscles aren't so sore anymore. Tonight is my last practice, until I start playing regularly for the MYA again. I'm helping blind kids play beep ball now. It's softball for blind kids. As half you probably don't know, I am half blind, so they really wanted me to help out. Anyway, I have to get like twenty hours of community service for school, so this is a good way to knock another six out. I already have six from helping my brother paint fire hydrants for his eagle project. **

**So… breaking dawn comes out in a couple of days, so this might be the last chapter until after I finish it. Don't worry, I'm a fast reader. You all should get another chapter by Monday, since I'm babysitting Sunday. Man, I'm hungry. I'm going to go get a honey-bun while you all click that little blue button at the bottom of the page to submit a review. Please review guys! I feel sad that I don't get a lot of feed back. Yay to all of my regular reviewers for reviewing after every chapter! You guys make me laugh! You rock guys! So don't forget to review!! Please? I don't care what you say… as long as it isn't too mean… I just love hearing from you guys! Until next time!! Bye!!**


	9. Chapter 9

W-O-W

**W-O-W. The response for that last chapter was incredible! Yay for my best friend Vicky (not the one I raved about in my last chapter), Flipflops, Corrupt My Youthful Innocence, Angel 4140, xxRosexx, and Blue Eyed Baby Girl for correctly answering in the reviews. Hmmm… maybe I should do that more often. The reviews I got from you allw ere amazing! The Cullens should be back in this chapter. But you all have to read to find out… this chapter is dedicated to all these people listed above, and every one else out there you knew that the answer was Forks, but was too shy to review! Guys, honestly, I'm nice. I won't bite your head off…. Anyway, Thnx guys! You all ROCK!! I have more than SIX HUNDRED hits! cries love you guys! Now scroll down and read!**

**Also, special shout out to the awesome superdani! I'm sooooooo sorry if you're mad at me, but I love it when you review, and I miss having you always reviewing. You've reviewed the most to this story, and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter!! Please don't be mad. It had to happen sometime. Please read this, superdani!**

**I refuse to admit I do not own Twilight… even if it's true.**

Chapter Nine

I pulled one of my favorite Aeropastale shirts that Alice bought me over a pair of Jeans. I was going to go meet Samuel in twenty minutes. _She_ had left fifteen minutes ago. Probably heading off to some bar to go get drunk.

I pulled the brace down over my still swollen wrist. I'd have Carlisle look at it as soon as the made a prison break… if they ever did. If they didn't come get me in a week, I'd do two things. I'd have a doctor look at my wrist, and I'd run away again.

I bounded down the steps and out the door. I jogged down the few block to the pizza shop.

He was already there of course. He was always early.

"Honestly, have you ever been late a date in your life?" I asked, walking up behind him.

He started. "What? Oh. Is that any way to great your best friend?" he was teasing me. Figures.

"Well…" I replied playfully.

"Don't answer that. I'm afraid of the answer."

"If you say so."

"Let me see your wrist." Of course. He had noticed that black brace of my wrist.

I undid the straps and carefully slipped it off, trying not to hurt it. Unsuccessfully trying.

He reached out his fingers and gently touched it, so softly it barely hurt. "Scar, you know it's probably broken, right?"

I nodded. "Probably. I'll have a friend come look at it later."

"Friend? Oh of course. The friends you ran off to in Alaska, am I right?"

"Of course you are. Are you ever not?"

"Hardly," he murmured. The pizza came.

I slipped the brace back on over my swollen wrist.

"You know, if it sets wrong, they'll just break it again and set it right."

I shivered and nodded. "Of course I know that. Why the sudden interest in playing doctor?"

"No reason… aside from the fact that my best friend is being abused."

"Aw, just shut up," I tore off a piece of crust a flicked it at him.

"Hey, be nice!"

"Why should I?"

"Because, I'm leaving in less than a week. And I want to remember all the nice things about you, no the tough girl act you put on."

"How do you know it's an act?" I stiffened up, getting defensive.

"See, there you go again. Scar, you need to _relax_. I'm not going to hurt you. In fact… I sort of… like you."

He gave me my favorite shy smile. I started laughing.

"You know I love it when you smile that way." I paused. "You know I kind of like you, too."

"Yup." He paused. "Remember, I know everything?"

"You can be _conceited _some times." I paused for a second. "And I wouldn't say that you know everything… just enough o annoy me to death."

"I don't try to annoy you on purpose… you know that, right?"

"Of course I do. But sometimes it's nice just to hear it."

"Well, usually, I just annoy you because once you realize I'm doing it, you smile. I really like to see you smile."

"Now you're just getting corny."

"Sorry," he smiled that sweet, shy smile again. It always made me laugh. Even now.

"What time is it?"

He glanced at his wristwatch. "Almost seven forty five. Why?"

"_She_'s going to call the house phone in fifteen minutes. If I'm not home, I'm going to be dead before dawn even touched the horizon. I gotta go."

"I stood up and turned to leave.

"I'll come with you," Samuel stood up to follow me.

"All right… but you can't come in."

"Fine whatever."

He followed me as I walked down the blocks to my house.

I jogged up the pathway. Samuel beat me to the door though.

"Scar, meet me tomorrow before school starts down by the fountain. Promise you will."

"Fine I promise. Sam, I really have to go." I said, hurriedly.

"All right," he pressed his lips softly to my cheek, and before I realized it, he was gone.

I turned to unlock the door. Just like I usually did, I turned the knob before slipping the key in, just to make sure it was still locked.

It wasn't locked.

I pushed it open.

"hello?" I called. "Anyone here?"

"Girl, you know how long it took for you to open that door? I thought you'd dropped dead or something." Spoke a familiar voice.

"I turned.

"Alice!" I screamed. I ran at her and hugged her.

"Easy Scarlet." Bella's amused voice was full of suppressed laughter.

"Right, Sorry."

Alice took my wrist in her cold fingers. She swiftly undid the Velcro and pulled it off.

"Does this hurt?" she asked, pressing softly down on the swelling.

"yes… and no."

She gave me a puzzled look.

"Your fingers are cold." I explained. "The cold is nice, but the pressure hurts."

"That's what I meant."

"Oh."

"Where's your room?" Bella asked.

"Why?"

"Your stuff, silly. You're leaving. Alice saw what the _woman _did to you. We can't let you stay here. She'll kill you."

"I know. I've been told… but you all can't take me. She'll have Social Services all over your family."

"Who said you were going back to Juneau?" Alice grinned mischievously.

"Alice, where the hell are you taking me?"

**Sorry it's so short, but I'm ending the chapter there, because I am extremely tired. Look guys, I promise the next one'll be at LEAST five pages long... not including my extremely long author notes. Anyone wondering why they're there in the sun? It was a cloudy day in Sacramento. Or at least, if it wasn't earlier, the clouds rolled in. You have to admit, it could happen. Again, superdani, I'm sorry for making you mad. It had to happen eventually. But the Cullens came to the rescue, didn't they? I told you it would all work out. Anyway, you all have to know where they're going. It's the only place that would make sense. There will be some more ExB in later chapters… but I have to get some of the more dramatic parts over. Including court senses. Just you guys wait till I allow Emmett to dominate the chapter. He'll expose all they're dirty secrets… sound good? Guys I'm going to work as hard as I can to get another chapter out tomorrow evening. It'll be the last one until I've read breaking dawn through at least once or twice… so probably tomorrow chapter will be the last one until Sunday evening or Monday morning. Guys, I'm so sorry, but hardly anyone'll be on the internet sautrday or Sunday anyway, so does it matter? You know what, don't answer that. I don't want my eyes to sting with the force of your coments. We'll all be curled up under the covers reading breaking dawn while dawn breaks over the horizon. So my awesome readers, review as soon as you can. I really loved the reviews I got for the last chapter, and I can't wait to hear more of your thoughts!! Good night guys!! Sleep tight!**


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys

**Hey guys! Did you all like the last chapter? I told you the Cullens would come back! Hmm… if nobody knows where they're going… you'll just have to be surprised. Anyway, breaking dawn comes out TONIGHT!! Omg I'm soooooo excited. If twilight wasn't the best one, it would soooooooo be breaking dawn! I hope Jacob and Edward battle it out!! Lol I don't want Jacob to die… I just want him to battle it out with Edward, and just leave Bella be. She's running with the vamps now. Sorry Jacob, you have to deal with that. It's good that Edward has competition but Jacob just never gives in… any Jacob fans out there (yes Vicky, you too) I like Jacob. I like Edward. I don't like Jacob and Bella TOGETHER!! My affection for Edward has been redirected to Jasper. (VICKY!!) Sorry, my friend thinks I hate Jacob. I DON'T!! sorry rant over. You all can go read the chapter. I still have no idea about what's going to happen… maybe some more violence… nah… this thing is going to write itself sorry if it doesn't make any sense.**

Chapter Ten

By the time the plane landed in Port Angeles, I was worn out. I hated planes. And heights. Three plane rides in a couple of days was hardly fair to me.

While we waited for Alice to get back with the rental car, Bella tried to get me to tell her what was wrong. Nothing was wrong. I was just tired. And annoyed. Mostly tired.

Alice stopped some red car in front of us. I was too tired to really care.

I climbed in the backseat while Bella hopped in the front seat with Alice. On the drive from Port Angeles to where ever they were taking me, I must of fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember is waking up in a dimly light room. I was disoriented for a minute, then I remembered that Bella and Alice were dragging me off somewhere… where I don't know.

I rolled off the bed and walked out of the room. Through every open door on one side of the hall way, I could see that the entire back wall was glass. Wherever we were, these people must like sunlight.

I stopped abruptly at the top of the steps.

Every single Cullen was sitting downstairs, whispering and talking about something or another. Jasper was even playing a video game.

What were they doing here?

I slowly walked down the stairs, careful not to trip.

I walked over to where Bella was sitting and sat on the floor at her feet.

"Scaret," Carlisle asked after a moment. "What's that on your wrist?"

"Oh," I blushed. "It's a brace."

"What for?" Edward asked tensely.

"Uh… I think Morgan broke my wrist." I bowed my head, not wanting to meet their smoldering eyes.

"Son of a-."

"Emmett! Watch your mouth!" Esme scolded.

"Sorry mom. How the hell did that happen?"

"Right when I got through the door and the social worker was gone she attacked me."

Bella ran her cold fingers through my hair, gently untangling all the knots. I tilted my head back and gave her a small smile. She grinned back.

"It's true," Alice chirped. "I saw it happen. We got there with enough time to get it on tape."

"That, a long with the bruise on your face should be enough for the judge to understand what's been going on." Carlisle spoke calmly.

"You reported her?" I reached up and softly touched my face. I hardly realized that the skin was tender where she had hit me yesterday.

"I had to, Scarlet. She was hurting you. I have recorded proof of it. You don't want to go back there, do you? Carlisle had detected the note of panic in my voice.

"No! Of course not. I just never want to see her again, either."

"Scarlet, about fifteen years ago, I was being hunted by three of the most masochistic vampires I've ever had the misfortune to meet. I still remember the day when Edward cut off the female's head. What I'm getting at, is even if you don't want to see her again, you'll have to to make sure she gets placed safely behind bars where she can't hurt you any more." Bella spoke softly.

Edward nodded. "I remember that, too. It's true though Scarlet. You want her placed in prison for abusing you, don't you?"

I nodded.

"Then you'll have to see her again, in a controlled environment. We'll all be there, and Jasper can help get the jury really angry if you want him to." Edward offered.

Jasper smiled at the idea. "I'd enjoy that. I could get the judge so annoyed he'd send her away without even consulting the jury."

"No! Please, don't do that. Rile up the jury if you have to, but I want a fair trial. I want the jury to hate her as much as I do for what she's done, not just because Jasper's having fun with their emotions."

Jasper looked disappointed for a minute, then perked up. "Can I at least get then nice and annoyed before hand?"

"Go right ahead. I don't care."

"Scarlet, she'll be placed in a city holding cell until after the trial. You'll need a lawyer."

I nodded. "Carlisle, it would be nice if I didn't have to think about it right now. My arm hurts, my head hurts and my side hurts. I really just want to laze around for a while."

"Your side? What did she do?"

"Stepped on me."

"Alice, is that on the tape?"

Alice nodded. "I recorded everything, I even got sound. You can hear _her _taunting Scarlet. It's disgusting. I hated having to watch it the first time in my vision. I don't know what'll be worse, my memory, or the tape."

"The tape." Almost everyone answered immediately.

I felt sick as Alice brought up that memory. It was still fresh in my mind. A wave of dizziness hit me out of nowhere. I quickly placed my head in between my knees. I didn't need to pass out right now. Right when I closed my eyes, the memory was there, like a movie waiting to play.

_She rounded on me._

"_What the __hell__ where you thinking?" she asked. She started walking towards me. I backed up. She stretched out one hand and smacked me across the face with such force it threw me backwards. I landed on my arm. Hard. I swear, I could almost hear it crack._

_She stood over me. "Oh, well, I know it won't happen again." She stepped down hard on my side, before she vanished._

_It'd been like this before. Except usually, she wasn't sober. Normally she'd gotten drunk to the point where she couldn't even stand, but as soon as she would see me, she would attack me. I expected it then. I even expected it now… I just didn't expect her to break my wrist._

_I pulled myself up with my good hand. My side hurt every time I breathed. My wrist was starting to swell._

_I climbed the stairs as best as I could, trying unsuccessfully to get up without triggering another bout of pain._

"Is she all right?"

"I think she's fainted." Bella mumbled hurriedly.

I felt cold fingers press gently against my wrist.

"Her pulse is fast." Carlisle spoke calmly.

Had I fainted? I didn't know. Maybe I had, and just came to.

I lifted my head up slowly, trying not to trigger another wave of dizziness.

It didn't work.

I hurriedly place my head back in between my legs. When this passed, I was going to _kill _Alice.

"Scarlet? Are you all right?" I heard Bella ask fearfully. It was getting harder to hear through the ringing in my ears.

I nodded.

"Bella, can you take Scarlet back upstairs for me, and make sure she goes to sleep? I'm pretty sure this is just from lack of sleep. Give her and Advil, too. It'll help with the pain." I heard Carlisle off from a distance.

Bella did as she was told, standing up and lifting me gently up off the floor.

I was pretty sure I passed out before Bella had even gotten half up the stairs, because the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the same bedroom I had earlier. Rain was pattering softly against the windows.

I moaned and rolled over. Everything hurt. I didn't know if it was lack of sleep of actual pain. I tried to get my body to relax and go back to sleep, but it didn't work.

I snatched up the phone that sat on the bedside table. I quickly punched in the number of the boys' home, praying that he was still there. I turned it on speaker to make it easier to hear without aggravating my headache.

The lady who worked in the front office picked up. I quickly asked for Samuel. She told me to wait a moment while she went off to go get him.

"Hello?" he asked dully when he finally came to the phone.

"Sam?"

"Scar?" He asked. "Where were you this morning?"

"Uhh... I actually have no idea. I sort of just woke up."

"Oh. I thought you were staying in Sacramento."

"I couldn't. My sister came and saved me from that hell hole."

"Your sister… is that who you ran off to in Alaska?"

"Err… yeah. I had to though. I was sick of getting hurt." I spotted a bottle of Advil right next to the phone. I pulled off the cap and pooped two into my mouth.

"Oh. I see…. Scar, I've got to go. My dad's here. He's going to drive me up to his house in Washington. I guess I'll talk to you later."

"But, Sam-."

"Scar, I'll call you as soon as we get to Washington." He softened his tone. "Scar, I don't want to be mean to you. You've seen enough hatred in your life. I didn't want to leave Sacramento because I thought you were still here. Now that I know you're gone… I just don't know what to think. I promise I will call you back later. I'll get the number off the phone here. But my dad has to get going. He's left Adam and Allen alone up at his house in Washington, and he doesn't trust them very much."

"All right then." I nodded, even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"Bye Scar. I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye," I whispered softly, and clicked off the phone.

I was virtually alone, even though I was in a house full of people-vampires-whatever. The one boy I actually cared about was moving to a tiny town in Washington called Forks, and I had no idea where I was. Despite the painkillers, everything hurt ten times more.

I'd never felt more alone.

**Whew. That was one long chapter. I told you all I would update tonight, didn't I? well, this chapter was basically me getting over a small bit of writer's block (that's what breaking dawn has down to my brain) I hope you all enjoyed Scar's fainting spell. I blame Alice! It wasn't me! (Okay, it was me but still) Alice needs to keep her mouth shut about stuff like that. She made scarlet have a flashback. I feel so bad for Scarlet. Samuel's just getting over some problems right now. Moving into a new home with two kids he's never met before and a father he barely knows can be tough on a fifteen year old. It can be tough on anyone. He hates to upset Scarlet, but he was really worried about her. He didn't want her to know that though. What is it with guys being all tough when they're really dying in side? Oh well, we love them anyway. Well guys, my job is to go work on the next chapter, while yours is to go click on that little blue button at the bottom of the page and tell me what you think of either this chapter or the story so far. If I don't get the next chapter up tonight, I'm going to tell you this in advance: I hope you all enjoy Breaking Dawn!! Also, this is the longest chater I've written for this story yet!! IO hope you all are pleased. It was over six pages long! now go have fun at all the breaking dawn realese parties. I know I will!  
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	11. Chapter 11

**Hi guys!! I am sooooo hyped up. I JUST FINISHED BREAKING DAWN!! !!Okay, is it just me, or was breaking dawn like, the best book stephenie meyer has EVER written? (Well, the story line, anyway. I hated Bella as a newborn) Oh, yea you know Bella's power? The shield thing (both in the book and in my fic) I had absolutely no idea that Ms. Meyer was going to use that for Bella's power. I just gave her the power because I thought would suit her best. All the credit goes to Ms. Meyer. I don't own any of this… except for scarlet and Samuel, of course. Anyway, what was your favorite part of breaking dawn? I especially loved the portion of the book from Jake's perspective. That really made me understand Jake more, and I felt really bad for him, but I was really had that he imprinted. He deserves love, even if Bella refuses to give it to him. Sorry to any Bella fans, but I don't like her that much. I do my best not to make her a complete bitch in my fics but it's HARD! She doesn't deserve Edward or Jacob. Ok, now I'm really sorry. I just had a lot of sugar and now I'm just sort of rambling. Well, here's the next chapter. Oh! Before I forget, you guys are the best. Over nine hundred hits! Now if I could just remember how to breathe again… I think I'm still in shock from breaking dawn….**

Chapter Eleven

I bolted upright, a scream about to tear from my lips before I choked it back. I hadn't even realized I'd been sleeping until I woke up. It was usually like this with my nightmares. Except this one had been so more realistic than the others. It hurt more than usual too… when I normally had I nightmare, I hit my hand or my head on something hard. This one was like I was actually there.

I shook my head, awakening my pounding headache. Right when I think it's gone, it comes back. It had to be a migraine. The Advil refused to work. I just wanted it and all my other problems to go _away_.

When I reached over to grab the bottle of Advil, I noticed it was three in the morning, I didn't know what day it was, but what sensible person wakes up a three in the morning?

I rubbed my eyes with the back of my good hand. I noticed my brace had been replaced with a thick wadding of Ace bandages. Carlisle had probably done it while I slept.

I lay back against the pillows, trying to remember everything from my dream. It was about Samuel, that much I was positive. We had been in a forest. I knew that, too. But we hadn't been alone. _She _had been there… hurting Samuel, while I had screamed out in desperation. Had I screamed in my sleep, without waking up? It was possible. Probable, actually. I did that a lot.

There was a soft knock on the door, then it was pushed open.

"May I come in?" Jasper's southern drawl asked quietly.

I nodded.

He came in and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Scarlet." He spoke my name quietly and slowly. "You're frightened. Petrified, actually. May I ask why?"

"I'm just scared." I brought my knees up to my chest and hugged them close.

"Why are you scared though? Are you still afraid of… _her_." Jasper asked softly.

I nodded. "She won't get out of my head. I just wish her memory would leave me be. It's tormenting me."

Jasper reached out his long arms and wrapped me in a tight hug. I buried my face in his chest, then asked, "Doesn't this bother you?"

He shook his head. "Not anymore. I mastered those problems a while ago. I'm completely in control now."

I pulled way from him to see him giving me a small smile. I couldn't help but smile back. I leaned back into him.

"You shouldn't be scared, Scarlet. There's eight of us, and only one of her. Nine if you choose to include yourself. We can take her." He told me confidently.

"I know, but you're not the one who got abused for no reason. You're not the one who has to deal with _her, _and her memory haunting you for the rest of your life." Tears started to pour over my eye lids.

"Shh… I know, Scarlet. I know. She hurt you badly. But we won't let it happen again." He paused for a second. "I promise we won't."

"You can't stop her from haunting me." I mumbled.

"You're right. We can't. But Scarlet, we all care about you, even Rosalie to a degree. We all just want you to feel better about yourself." Jasper spoke softly.

"I know," I sighed. "I can't change what she's done to me. I stayed with her for more than a year, and got abused, both verbally and physically, every night. I can't forget what she's done to me. I don't think I ever could."

"They don't expect you to." Jasper gave me another hug. "That's why the try to hunt down child abusers. They do terrible things to children and teens that haven't done anything wrong."

"I got abused twice in my lifetime. Both by a mother who never wanted me and a foster mother who only wanted someone to take her problems out on. This isn't fair." I hissed. I stared out the window, watching as a lone flash of lightning lit up the sky.

"Life was never fair. I used to be a major in the Confederate army before I was bitten and used as a slave for God knows how long."

"But you found Alice. At least you had a happy ending."

"You do too. You've found us. Every one of us. Haven't you ever wanted older brothers and sisters?"

"Brothers, yes. Sisters, I was never as fond of."

"Well you have three perfectly good brothers to hang out with. Just watch out for Emmett. He's still mad at you." Jaspewr laughed. "He deserved what he got, though."

"Speaking of them, where are they all? It's unusually quiet."

"They're out playing baseball in the clearing we used when we used to live here." He shrugged. "I decided not to go. I stayed here to watch you, instead."

"I don't need a baby-sitter," I growled.

"I know you don't. But you've been in and out of consciousness for a little less than five days now. Carlisle wanted someone to stay with you. I decided that if you woke up, I could talk to you. Keep you happy. And keep your mind off your nightmares." Jasper gave me a sincere smile.

"Well guess what, it worked. I can't believe it, but it did. Jasper, you rock." I gave him a tight hug before averting my eyes back to the storm.

"Thank you, Scarlet." Jasper smiled again. "You and I get along pretty well, don't we?"

I nodded. "We do."

"What's your favorite thing in school?"

"English," I cast my eyes down.

"Reading or writing?"

"Writing. I've always enjoyed stretching my imagination."

"I should've known. It is so you."

"You say that as if it were a bad thing." I said innocently.

"It's not. What was your favorite thing to study in History?" Jasper watched as my eyes followed the lightning.

"World War II and the Civil war probably. They were the most descriptive time periods, and we went through a lot of changes and realizations during them, too."

Jasper nodded, satisfied. "I can live with that."

"Do you have a choice?"

"No… I suppose I don't. But it makes it a little bit easier. It makes me a little bit happier, too."

I glanced at the clock. It was almost four. "What time were they supposed to be home?"

"Actually, I think I can here them coming right now. They should be her in about ten minutes."

"Oh… have I really been asleep for nearly five days?" I asked.

Jasper nodded. "You have. Well, you've been in and out of it. Mostly in someplace in-between. Carlisle was afraid he'd have to hospitalize you. We only got food in you once. The other times you just threw it back up." Jasper wrinkled his nose.

"I was sick?" I was surprised. I couldn't remember that.

"Very, very sick. You scarred all of us. None of us had any idea what to do. Carlisle assumed something was wrong when you passed out in the living room," Jasper stopped. "Do you remember that?"

"Of course I do. But I didn't pass out. I had a flashback. I did pass out when Bella way carrying me up the stairs." I paused, wondering if I should tell him this. "I woke up once. Or at least, one time that I can remember. I felt perfectly fine. Extremely sore, maybe, but fine. Samuel and I talked and everything over the phone and everything."

Jasper was nodding. "That was probably the night right after you all got back. We heard you up on the phone, and we had hoped that would mean you ere coming downstairs soon, but you didn't, and Bella went upstairs to check on you. You… weren't yourself. You were lying across your bed all frightened and scared looking. You looked pretty sore when Bella sat you up. You kept wincing in pain, anyway and after Bella practically had to force feed you, you feel asleep and didn't wake up for another two days. That's when things got pretty bad. Bella gave you some light food but you couldn't hold anything down. Carlisle was afraid he'd have to take you to the hospital and feed you through a tube." Jasper was laughing towards the end.

I heard the door open and close downstairs. No one was talking. I had a feeling every one of them were eavesdropping.

"Can you remember anything from that night?" He asked after a pause.

I nodded, then gasped loudly. I had to lean back against the pillows before I fell and hit my head. Where had this sudden wave of exhaustion come from?

Jasper stared at me worriedly.

"Are you all right?" he asked, frightened.

I nodded. "I'm fine. Just… tired."

He nodded. "I won't keep you up much longer. I promise. I just want to know one thing."

"Go on then." It was taking a lot of effort to keep my eyes open, let alone talk.

"What is it that you can remember from that night? The one you had the flashback, I mean."

I knew he was going to ask that. I answered it the best I could, without mutilating the last of my energy.

"I remember getting very dizzy after Alice brought up all the stuff about _her_. It just sort of came on. As soon as I closed my eyes, it was like I was watching a movie. Except I was in it. It made everything hurt more. I really can't remember much after that. Except for my phone call with Sam, that is."

I could see Carlsiel and Alice standing at the door out of the corner of my eye.

Jasper nodded. "I better leave now," he whispered. "Carlisle and Alice both will kill me if I keep you up much longer without them getting a turn to annoy you."

"You didn't annoy me. It was actually… nice. You're fun to talk to."

"Like I said. You and I get along real well."

Jasper stood up, then bent down and gave me a hug.

"You know, Scarlet." He whispered gently in my ear. "You're just like the daughter I never had."

I smiled at the compliment, but did say anything. Obviously, he could sense my exhaustion, and he understood. I could feel him push it back a little bit, but not much. I didn't think he could control it. He finally gave up after a minute. "Good night, Scarlet." He sighed.

"Night, Jasper."

As he left the room, I heard Alice squeal, "Aw Jazzy! That was so sweet!"

Carlisle came in. I opened my eyes tiredly.

"Scarlet, how are you feeling?" he asked gently, taking my good wrist in his cold fingers and checking my pulse.

"Extremely tired, Carlisle. I just really want to sleep."

"I understand. Do you think you can stay up long enough for Alice to apologize? Then you can get some sleep."

I nodded. I really didn't have enough strength left to waste on words.

"Good. All right Alice, you may come in."

Alice came bounding in to the room, looking extremely upset. She started talking a mile a minute.

"I am so sorry, Scarlet. I had no idea you would have a flashback. I should have seen it happen, but I didn't. And then you passed out and- oh everything is my fault!"

"Relax Alice." I instructed. "You didn't know I would have a flashback. I didn't even know. I thought I would be able to sit through it all without even thinking about. I was the one who was wrong, not you. Anyway, I got really dizzy. Like, really, really, really, dizzy. I couldn't control what I saw. I didn't want to pass out. So I put my head between my knees. It didn't work very well, though."

"Oh." She paused for a second, then both she and Carlisle asked, "You got dizzy?"

I nodded. Carlisle looked surprised. "I didn't expect that." He mumbled. "Did you feel anything else? Nauseated? Sore? Anything?" he pried.

"I nodded. "Not at the time. I was just very dizzy. But when I woke up… I was extremely sore. I didn't want to move."

Carlisle nodded. "All right Alice. "Time to leave and let her sleep."

"But Carlisle-!" Alice protested.

"No, Alice. Look at her, she's completely exhausted. She needs to sleep. You can continue groveling for her forgiveness in the morning."

Alice nodded unhappily and bounded out the room after Carlisle. They left my door open, probably to keep an eye on me while I slept.

I closed my eyes, and felt myself sliding off into a restful sleep.

**Well, did you all like this chapter? I absolutely love Jazzy in it. How sweet is he? The greatest is I do say so myself. I really think of him as the best father Scarlet could have. Edward and Bella… well you all know I'm adverse to Bella. I have to make her act like a good sister, but I don't have to like it. Edward is just too understanding. Guys are ALWAYS the hottest when they're upset. Why can't he get upset like a normal person/vampire? Honestly, that's where the story went wrong. Edward is too kind. Breaking Dawn should have come from his POV and Jake's. We all know Jake's was the best part of the book.**

**OK, I know this chapter was mostly dialogue, but it's still sweet. deal with it! This has to be my favorite chapter of them all. it's the absolute sweetest one I've written yet. You HAVE to agree with me there. Review and tell me what you think.  
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**I would love it if I could get at least five reviews before I update tomorrow, bringing my review total to thirty. That's not too much to ask for, is it? I hope not. Guys, I know you all can click a little button. Please do? Pretty Please?**

**Special message to Corrupt My Youthful Innocence: I hope you feel better. You might want to give breaking dawn another try. My sister didn't like it much either. I hope you feel better soon! Also, you're not the only one sick today. I feel extremely sleep deprived. You'll feel better once it all passes. Trust me. Just go get some sleep and eat some saltine crackers. You'll feel better in no time. I'm goignt to go ctach some Z's. I think the room is starting to spin a bit…n Latrz guys.**


	12. Chapter 12

Hey guys… for once, I don't much to say

**Hey guys… for once, I don't much to say. I feel awful and just want to go crawl back in bed. I know I promised you all an update so here you go. I won't break my promise, even though I'm beat. I actually have more than a thousand hits! Do you guys know how awesome you are? That's why I'm updating tonight. You will still get tomorrow's chapter, too. This chapter is another sweet one but it's extremely sad, too…. I'm not telling you anymore than that. Well guys, here's your update. you'll just have to read to find out. And so, it begins….**

Chapter Twelve

_I was lying on the ground, staring into the viscous nearly black eyes of Morgan. She was going to hurt me. I knew she was._

_She took one stepped, bringing herself even closer to my violently shaking form. She stepped down hard on my arm; the same arm that was now is a splint. _

_She stared at me; the glare in her eyes was gleeful. What was I doing in the home of this masochist? _

_She walked over to the corner and drug Samuel out of nowhere._

"_Scarlet!" He screamed. "Scarlet, help me!"_

"_Your little girlfriend can't help you now." Morgan pulled out a knife and slit his throat._

"NO!!"I bolted upright in bed, only barely aware that I had screamed.

I threw myself back against the pillows, breathing heavily. I couldn't get my breath back. Every time I blinked, I saw him again, with blood dripping down his throat.

I wasn't aware that every Cullen had come running until Carlisle, Jasper, Edward, and Bella all busted into the room.

"Scarlet! Are you all right?" Bella asked fearfully.

I didn't answer her. Violent shivers were racking down my body, and I was cold… really, really cold. My heart was beating rapidly. I still couldn't get my breath back….

I rolled over and leaned over the side of the side of the bed and threw up. I couldn't help it. That dream had scared the hell out of me.

I started sobbing too. I couldn't help myself. I was just too frightened.

"Carlisle!" Bella and Edward practically shouted. "Do something!"

It wasn't Carlisle who talked next though, it was Jasper.

"Scarlet. Relax. Shh… hush. It's all right." I felt a wave of calm wash over me. It helped with the crying, but I was still shaking and I was still extremely cold. "Feel better?"

I shook my head. "Hardly," I whispered. My voice sounded awful, all cracked and raspy.

Carlisle pressed a hand against my forehead, then stuck a thermometer under my tongue. He pulled it out when it beeped.

"What's it say?" Jasper asked. Edward answered.

"One-oh-three point four."

"Holy crow." Bella yelped. "That's _high_."

I closed my eyes again. I was tired. But as soon as I did, I regretted it. I watched the end of my nightmare happen all over again. Another wave of nausea hit me. I moaned and rolled over. I think I threw up in a bucket. I wasn't sure. I was exhausted.

I felt someone wipe the sweaty hair away from my face. I was cold, and sick. Tired, and barely strong enough to roll over. I just wanted to sleep, but I was petrified of closing my eyes.

"Edward, run down stairs and grab one of the frozen washcloths out of the freezer." Carlisle instructed.

I opened my mouth to protest. "No. I'm freezing… don't need… ice." It didn't come out strong like I had wanted it to. I was too weak to say half the words I wanted to.

"Wait, what did she say?" Edward paused.

"She _said_ that she doesn't need ice. She's freezing." Another set of violent shakes racked through me. I couldn't stay with this all much longer. I was freezing, but apparently, I had a fever and Carlisle wanted to bring it down….

"Scarlet, honey, are you all right?" I opened my three quarters of the way closed eyes to see Jasper staring right at me.

I shook my head.

"Then please tell me what's wrong. What's making you so sick?"

I tried to talk. It sounded pitiful, but I was sure he got my point. "Nightmares…_her_… killing Samuel… _killing_ him."

"Scarlet, I promise you. It was just a dream. She's never going to hurt you again. I told you that. She's probably behind bars in Sacramento. She can't escape, Scarlet. I promise you, you're safe here. You know you are." Jasper spoke calmly. It was helping with getting rid of most of the nightmare, but I still felt sick. Every part of my body ached and throbbed. Especially if I moved. I began to feel nauseous again. It wasn't as sudden as the other wave. I still retched all the same. I couldn't get the ending out of my head. It haunted me every time I blinked, making more and more violent shudders quaked through my body.

With out thinking, I grabbed Jasper's hand and laid it across my forehead. It made me feel worse, but Carlisle looked somewhat appeased. Jasper look startled, then he relaxed.

"Feel better?"

I shook my head. "Everything hurts… I can't stop… shaking… I'm… so… cold."

Edward looked frightened. Bella looked absolutely horrified. Jasper was the only one who stayed calm, whispering a steady stream of consolations.

Carlisle took my temperature again. Obviously, it had not improved any, because he looked absolutely shocked.

"Jasper, take a look at this,"He flashed the thermometer at Jasper. Shock crossed his face.

"That's worse than what it was an hour ago!"

More convulsions racked through me, leaving me twice as weak as before and more nauseous, Edward pushed the bucket closer to the side of the bed. I rolled over and hurled.

"That's absolutely disgusting," Rosalie's snide voice came form the doorway.

"Shut up, Rose!" Jasper, Bella, and Edward all shouted at the exact same time.

I rolled back over and lay still for a few minutes. I couldn't stop the violent convulsions, but I tried my best to calm down a bit. It worked for a minute. The shudders calmed down for a moment, then started back up again with an all-mighty tremor.

"Scarlet, honey, did you fall asleep?" Jasper asked softly. I shook my head, no.

"Jazzy! What are you doin- oh. She's sick again?" Alice asked, worried.

"You didn't see this?" Edward asked surprised.

"No, I didn't actually. I was rearranging my closet and wasn't focusing on anything."

"Nothing just came to you?" Edward asked, skeptical.

"Nope." Alice sighed. "How is she, Jasper?"

"Pretty bad off, I think," Jasper ran his icy fingers over my forehead, brushing back more strands of the sweaty hair that were stuck to my forehead.

"She looks awful." Alice stated. I opened my eyes from their half closed state.

"I heard… that… Alice," I hissed. My voice cracked halfway trough, and Alice burst out laughing.

"That's not funny, Alice." Jasper stood up for me. "She's sick. She can't help it."

"Oh, I know. I'm sorry, Scarlet. It was sort of funny though. The way your voice cracks."

I felt another convulsion rack through me. I cried out. It hurt so much, and I was so tired….

I hadn't noticed Carlisle had left until he came back. He stuck the thermometer in my mouth once more. It tastes foul. Bile rose up my throat. Alice pulled it out about three seconds before I hurled again. I felt absolutely terrible. I wanted to sleep. To not have any nightmares. I closed my eyes experimentally. I felt myself immediately drifting.

I wasn't greeted with the same nightmare, but a completely different one. One I'd never seen before.

_Samuel stared at me from across the hall. I don't think I'd ever seen him as frightened as he was then. _She_ came at me, clenching and unclenching her fists. She was drunk I could tell from the way she walked. I retreated backwards, and stumbled. I fell to the ground. She stood over me, laughing manically. _

"_I'll have fun doing this."_

_She grabbed me by the arm and threw me across the hall. My head cracked back against the wall. Blood started seeping through my hair as she came ever closer._

_She picked Samuel up by the front of his shirt and threw him against the wall. She wrapped her long-nailed fingers around his neck, squeezing it so hard it began to suffocate him, and finally cracked his neck._

"_No!!" I screamed. She turned, and started heading for me. "Get away from me! Get the hell away from me!"_

_She began laughing again and reached out her long fingers for me._

"_You're next."_

"AHHH!!" I screamed. I felt someone next to me. I was completely disoriented. I had no idea where I was. I started thrashing around violently. I felt cold arms press my arms down. I fought even harder.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Scarlet!" I heard Edward yell.

I felt calm sweep through my body, but I couldn't control my emotions any more. I continued thrashing.

"Scarlet! You need to calm down!" Jasper cried desperately.

A convulsion racked through my body, leaving me weak and terrified. I was frightened by what I had just seen. Samuel couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be.

I moaned and rolled out from under Jasper. I retched over the side of the bed for either the fourth of fifth time. I felt terrible. When I finished, I didn't even bother to roll back over. Another wave of nausea hit me, fast. I retched once more.

I felt the bed disappear beneath me. My eyes fluttered open in shock.

Jasper was cradeling me to his chest. "Carlisle!" he called away from my ears. "I'm taking her to the hospital. She needs it."

"No!" I protested. I felt awful. "Put… me down… Jasper…. Please?"

He laid me carefully back down on the bed. Out of nowhere, Alice handed me an empty bucket.

"You'll need it."

She was right. Right when I felt just better enough to close my eyes and try to fall asleep again, I found myself watching Samuel get chocked to death once more.

I screamed again, much earlier than I had the last time, and retched in the bucket. All that came up was stomach acid. It left me feeling almost as bad as it had earlier.

"Argh… Alice…." I groaned.

"I'm right here, Scarlet."

"I… feel… awful." I groaned.

"I know Scarlet. Jasper will be back in a moment. He and Carlisle are going to take you to the hospital. Carlisle agrees with Jasper. You need hospital care."

I moaned. "I… hate… hospitals."

"I know, Scarlet. I know. Just humor us once."

I nodded the smallest nod manageable. "Alice… I'll get… car sick."

"I know. I warned Jasper. He'll take care of you Scarlet." Alice paused for a moment. 'We all will."

I nodded again.

Carlisle came upstairs and gathered me gently in his arms.

"Carlisle… where… are we?"

"We're in a tiny town in Washington called Forks. We used to live here, before we moved to Connecticut, then to Alaska."

I nodded.

Carlisle passed me off to Jasper at the bottom of the stairs. Jasper walked slowly, trying not to trigger any more nausea. It worked, to a degree. I didn't feel sick anymore. But every part of me hurt. Jasper laid me down gently in the back of the car. He set and empty bucket on the floor next to me. I groaned when the car started moving, but I didn't get sick the whole ride. I was still shaking violently. I was so cold. This wasn't normal. Nightmares never upset me as badly as the ones I'd been having recently had.

Carlisle parked the car close to the entrance. Jasper gently slid me out of the car. I was exhausted. I didn't have any fight left in me, either. I was content to let the do what they wanted.

We walked through the doors and into a brightly lit receptionist area. The light hurt my sore eyes. I shut them against it.

"Jasper…" I groaned.

"I know, Scarlet. We're going to get you checked into a room, and have a specialist look you over."

I let out a low moan.

Carlisle told the receptionist who we were here to see. She immediately waved us back to a room. I guess I looked as terrible as I felt.

Jasper laid me down gently on the rough bed.

"The doctor should be in in a minute, Scarlet."

I nodded weakly. I was just feeling worse by the second. Carlisle wanted me to stay awake. I wanted to sleep. I had to respect Carlisle though. He knew what was best for me.

A teenager walking down the hallway was complaining loudly to his father.

"Dad, why can't we just go home? It's like three in the morni-." He stopped. I opened my eyes slowly. Even this tiny motion hurt.

In the doorway, stood Samuel.

"Scar?" He asked softly.

I opened my eyes a little bit wider.

"Scarlet!" He flung him self in the room and gave me a big hug.

"Ugh, God Scarlet. You smell repulsive."

I nodded.

"Why the hell are you here? You nightmares haven't started up again, have they?" he asked suspiciously.

Jasper spoke for me. "That's exactly why we're here."

Samuel stared at me for a long minute. "I'm sorry, Scar."

"S'not you're fault."

"Yes, it is. I've tried calling you for the past week, but no one ever picks up. Guess I know why." He glanced at Carlisle and Jasper. "I should have tried harder. These nightmares are always my fault!"

"No! They're… not." I gasped. I leaned deeper into the uncomfortable bed. A fresh sheen of sweat broke out over my forehead.

Jasper rushed over and pressed his arm against my face. "Scarlet, you're burning _up_."

I nodded weakly. Samuel looked frightened. "I'm going to go get my dad." He took off out of the room and ran down the hall.

"Scarlet, are you all right?" I shook my head.

"I hate… it when… he… blames… himself," I gasped. "It… makes… me… feel… _worse_."

Jasper gave me a brief hug. "I'm sorry. He's going to go get his father though. He can help you."

I nodded. "Jasper, I… feel... like crap."

"I know. I can try to make you less tired. It won't last for long though."

"Do... it…. Please." I begged.

Samuel came back at that exact moment. He came over to sit next to me on the very end of the bed. I stared up into his warm eyes. They made me feel a little bit better.

The doctor hit a button to make the headrest of the bed move up so I wasn't lying completely horizontal. Samuel jumped up as soon as the bed moved.

"So… Scarlet? What's going on. Your father and brother tell me you've been having nightmares that are making you ill. What's that about?"

I stared at Jasper, begging him with my eyes to tell the doctor for me. I didn't feel well enough to talk anymore.

Jasper must've gotten the message.

"Scarlet's been having some very vivid nightmares recently. It came on right after we rescued her from an abusive adoptive mother. She can barely sleep through the night any more without waking up screaming or have terrible convulsions. Sometimes, like tonight, it can get to the point where she's demonstrating flu like symptoms. Violent convulsions, high fever, vomiting," I winced as he kept talking. "Earlier this evening she had woken up from a terrible nightmare about her old adoptive mother and was violently sick for a little more than an hour. After that, she calmed down enough to get some sleep. She woke up half an hour later screaming and thrashing around. It took three of us to get her calmed down. By then, she was vomiting again. We just couldn't keep her settled. Her fever was around one-hundred-and-three point nine by then, or I'm assuming it was. As soon as my father tried to put it in her mouth, she hurled."

"I see… do you have any idea what these nightmares are about?" Jasper shook his head.

"Scarlet? Can you tell me what these nightmares were about?" The doctor was doing his best to be kind. He sounded extremely worried, though. Probably because I was Samuel's friend.

I nodded. I was going to regret this, though."In both of them… Samuel was getting murdered by _her_. Violently. She would do it after hurting me, making me watch him die." My voice was stronger than it had been all night, but it hurt to talk. Especially about that.

Samuel stared at me. He probably though I was crazy.

"You and Samuel had started going out just before we moved here, didn't you?" Samuel's father asked.

I nodded.

"Hmm… that would explain your fear for him dying. You say you had to watch him die at the hands of your old adoptive mother?" I nodded. He was resurfacing the ragged edges of the dreams that had torn at my consciousness. I felt bile rise once more in my throat. I leaned over and retched onto the floor. Samuel reached over and held my hair back.

It took longer than normal this time for everything to come up. I moaned when I finished, and rolled back onto my back. Jasper and Carlisle looked worried. Samuel did, too.

"I'll call a nurse in to hook you up to a few machines and an I.V. I don't need you eating anything right now. You'll need blood work done, too."

I nodded.

"Are you ready to go, Samuel?"

Samuel shook his head

"I'm staying here."

His father didn't protest. "All right then."

A few minutes later, a nurse came in and started hooking me up to all different machines. When she drew blood, I was sure Jasper was going to flip. Before I knew it, I was falling in to a restless sleep.

** Well, what do you think? God, that was a looooooong chapter. I had to bring Samuel back. He's so awesome. So, Scarlet's sick and scared. She's frightened for Samuel; afraid Morgan is going to go after him. That, and Samuel's harsh words in they're last phone conversation made things twice as bad. Well, tell me what you think! Love you guys, and sleep tight!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Morning guys. I didn't go to bed until midnight last night. So much for being exhausted. Now I'm extremely tired. Anyway… how did you all like the last chapter? I loved Jasper in it, and he's just as sweet in this one, if not more. Oh! I know I've been ending a lot of chapters with Scarlet falling asleep, and the next one being of her nightmares. I just think that's the best way to do it right now. You have to admit, it is a good place to end the chapter. Anyway, I hope you all don't get too bored. I try not to, but it just sort of happens when I get too into it. Sorry! Also, this chapter's a lot sadder… or at least, it's supposed to be. I'm still planning what's going to happen, so I decided to let the Scarlet part of my brain take over. Here you guys go! I still don't have a lot to talk about. Are you guys going to watch The Secret Life of the American Teenager this Tuesday? It's going o be the best episode yet! It's a good show. I missed last week's episode because of camp, and my computer doesn't get sound on it. So I can't watch it. My friends haven't watched it either, so they didn't fill me in the next day at ridding. Okay, now I'm just letting the boredom take over. Here's the next chapter!**

Chapter Thirteen

_I lay on my bed, reading. I heard the door open and slam shut downstairs. I heard loud voices yelling at one another. I knew my parents were home, and that my dad must be trying to stop my mother from drinking. Again. I heard heavy footsteps clump up the stairs and turn down the other end of the hallway. I sighed. Once again, my father wasn't going to save me._

_I could hear the uneven, drunken staggering of my mother climbing up the steps. She turned down my end of the hallway, stumbling towards my room. I hid my book under my pillow. If she saw it, she would probably kill me._

_She shoved open my door. I looked up, horrified. She was starring at me evilly. I tried to avert my gaze but I couldn't. She came closer, within arm's length away. She grabbed me by my upper arm and half pulled half threw me off the bed. I fell with a thud, cracking my head against the wood floors._

_She stood over me. I rolled over, trying to get away from her. She stepped down hard on my leg, making it practically impossible to move._

_I heard the door knob turn..._

_I lifted my eyes, staring into the horrible face of the woman I absolutely loathed. She stared right back at me, with the same glint in her eyes that she had whenever she was about to hurt me. _

_She grinned wickedly. I moaned. I knew what was coming._

_Instead of coming for me, she grabbed someone I didn't notice._

_It was Samuel._

"_Watch me kill him." She hissed._

"_NO!!" I screamed, but it didn't do any good. She pulled out a twelve inch long knife, first slitting his wrists, then his throat. She left; leaving me to watch the blood gush out of the deep wounds, watch him die in agony..._

"_No! Samuel! Don't die! Please! Please, don't die!" I screamed, crawling across the floor to him. I grabbed at his still bleeding wrist. I could find a pulse. I pressed my ear to his chest, but I couldn't hear a heartbeat._

_Tears overflowed my eyes; I was sobbing, and screaming._

"Samuel, go get your father. Jasper try to calm her down the best you can."

"I'm trying, Carlisle. I just can't do it." Jasper's voice was about as tired as I'd ever heard a vampire's.

"Then keep trying, son. _Go_, Samuel! Your father needs to see this. He needs to help her."

I heard footsteps running down the hallway, away from the room.

I shook violently, screams still tearing out of my throat, tears still poured down my face. I couldn't calm down. My eyes were still shut; I could still see Samuel dying again and again… I couldn't stand the sight of his blood. I rolled right over, and retched.

I heard Samuel come back, with another pair of footsteps following close behind. I'd stopped screaming, but I was still shaking terribly and retching.

I felt Samuel sit down behind me, and pull my hair back form my face. I groaned and threw up again.

Jasper sat down at the foot of my bed. He ran his icy fingers over my flaming skin. Though it felt good, it made me shiver even more.

I moaned and rolled back over. My pillow was soaked. Sweat was pouring off my face. Samuel ran his fingers through my sticky hair, trying to calm me down. Jasper was speaking softly to me. I was still crying though, I tried to shut up so I could here him.

"Shh… hush, Scarlet, hush. Scarlet, you need to calm down. You have to, Scarlet. I need you to calm down, honey. Shh… I know you had another nightmare. I know. Relax Scarlet. Shh. Calm down Scarlet. You need to calm down." Jasper whispered fast, running his fingers in small circles over my arms. I tried to calm down. I was still sobbing and shaking, but I was able to stay a little bit quieter. "There you go Scarlet. I know it hurts. I promise that she _can't_ hurt you. At all. Scarlet, you have to trust me."

"She seems very attached to your son," Samuel's father noted.

Carlisle nodded. "They get along very well. To Jasper she's a sick, hurting teenager. To everyone else, she's just an abuse victim who's severely misunderstood." Carlisle shrugged. "I see her the same way Jasper does. Almost every one of my children do."

I moaned again. Samuel looked at me, frightened.

"Don't worry," Jasper told him. "She's not going to get sick."

Samuel nodded. "I'm still scared though."

"For yourself or for her?"

"For her. She looks so… I don't know… terrible. Like she's about to fall apart at any second. Then, I get the thought that _I_ did this to her."

"You had nothing to do with this. It was that child abuser's fault," Jasper spoke confidently.

"Yeah, but I could've done something to stop this. I wish I had. I _should _have."

"Shut… the hell… up, Sam." I gasped. "None… of this… is… your…." My strength left me right then. I couldn't even finish my sentence.

Jasper finished it for me instead. "She means it's not your fault."

Samuel nodded. "I know."

"Scarlet?" Samuel's father asked gently.

I looked up at him.

"Could you tell me what the hell just happened?"

I shut my eyes tightly and shook my head.

"May I ask why not?" he was trying to be polite.

'Too… horrible."

I opened my eye partially, to see the doctor's eyes flicking between me, Samuel and Jasper.

"She meant that the dream was too horrible, and if she talks about it or even thinks about it, she'll get sick. She doesn't want that."

"I see." He turned his attention back to me. "Scarlet?"

I looked up at him.

"How're you feeling?"

"Terrible." I croaked.

"I know. The best way to make you feel better is to relax and try to talk about it. Do you think you can do that?"

I shook my head. Samuel's father looked annoyed for a moment, then changed. "I have to head down the hall to another patient. I'll be back in a few minutes. When I come back, I want you to ry and tell me about your nightmare."

I looked at him, horrified.

He turned and left.

"Scar?" Samuel asked after a minute. I looked at him.he seems very attatched to your son," fingers in small circles over my arms.

nd again...n his throat. she left same glint in her eye

"Was your nightmare about… _her_ killing me?"

I nodded. The shakes started again. A fresh wave of nausea hit me. Jasper leapt out of the way as I rolled over.

I retched, and moaned. When would this ever stop?

"Scarlet?" Carlisle asked me softly.

I moaned again, to let him know I was listening.

"You had a meeting today with your lawyer. Esme rescheduled it so that she could come here and meet up with us all. Is that all right?"

I nodded. I was too tired to talk.

"All right. Get some sleep Scarlet."

I groaned. "No… nightmares."

Jasper rubbed small circles on to my back. "Scarlet, if you fall asleep, you won't have to tell Samuel's father about your nightmare."

I nodded. That sounded good. I didn't have to relive my nightmare.

I brought my knees up to my chest and was instantly asleep.

When I woke up, I couldn't believe I had actually gone a period of time without having any nightmares. Jasper was still rubbing circles into my back. There were more voices, talking. I waited for sleep to find me again, wanting nothing more than to pass out again. The voices were loud though.

"How'd you do it, Jasper?"

I opened my eyes partially. I saw Jasper shrug.

"She listens to me, I guess."

"I'll say." I looked to see who was talking. It was Emmett. I looked around the tiny room. Every other Cullen was there, too.

I closed my eyes again. I didn't know why, but I felt worse than I had earlier.

"Shut up, Emmett," Alice scolded.

"Sorry." I'm sure he pulled the teddy bear face out.

"It's all right. Now what do we do?"

"We wait for her to wake up and for the lawyer to get here."

No one spoke for a minute.

"She _is_ awake though." Alice muttered.

"Scarlet?" Jasper asked softly. "Scarlet?"

I opened my eyes for a second, then closed them again.

"You okay?"

"That's… a stupid… question…. If I… was… okay… I wouldn't… be lying… in a… hospital bed," I gasped raggedly. I just couldn't talk normally any more.

Emmett let out a booming laugh. "She sure told you, Jazz."

"_Don't call me Jazz, _EMMA!"

"Don't call me EMMA!"

"Boys!" Esme called out. "You're in a hospital!"

"Sorry, mom." They both mumbled.

A knock on the door broke up the Cullens.

"Uh… I'm here to see a Scarlet McDowell?" she spoke the sentence like a question. I winced when she said that last name. I refused to believe she had actually called me that.

Jasper shook my shoulder. "Scarlet? I know your not sleeping, honey. Please wake up."

I blinked my eyes open. I rolled onto my back and Samuel hit the button to put the head rest up. I didn't lean against it, though. I put my head on Samuel's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and placed his head on top of mine. It felt good, sitting there next to him.

"C'mon in." Carlisle stood up. "I'm Carlisle and this is my wife Esme, and our children, Edward, Bella, Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper." He pointed to each one in turn. "This is Scarlet, and her friend, Samuel."

The lawyer nodded. "You're testifying against a child abuser, correct?"

I nodded.

"Can you tell me anything about her? I mean, like, what she's done to you."

I looked up at Jasper, who was sitting next to me. He gave me a small smile and spoke for me.

"She would come home every night from getting drunk and abuse Scarlet. Scarlet wouldn't do anything to stop either. She put up with it for more than a year. Finally, Scarlet ran away, but Social Services forced her to go back. As soon as the Social worker's car was out of the driveway, she rounded on Scarlet, slapped her across the face and broke her wrist. She stepped on her side."

"I see… anything else?"

"Anything else, Scarlet?"

"Nightmares." I mumbled. "Flashbacks."

Jasper nodded.

"After we brought her back here, Scarlet's been having nightmares that leave her violently ill. She has flashbacks too, but not as often. She has a nightmare almost every night, and every time she wakes up, she's ill. She hasn't been able to hold food down for days."

I gave Jasper an appreciative smile.

"What was her most recent nightmare about?" the lawyer asked. I froze.

Every single person in the room was looking at me.

I buried my face into Samuel's shoulder. He wrapped his other arm around me, holding me close to his body. I breathed in his warm scent. He smelled like the rain, only better.

"Scarlet?" she asked.

"C'mon Scar. Tell them. They need to know," Samuel whispered softly into my hair.

I shook my head.

"I'll… get sick." I mumbled.

"Will you tell me or Jasper?"

I nodded.

Then tell us," Jasper encouraged softly.

"Fine. It was you. Getting killed. And me… me watching." I whispered.

Jasper nodded. "We get that part. That's what they always are. I could tell from your screaming. Scarlet, do you realize you screamed for about fifteen minutes before you woke up?" I shook my head. That was funny, though.

"Will you tell me anything else?" I shook my head.

"My imagination… is very…good. Not… bringing it back… ask… Edward," I mumbled, gasping for breath again.

"Edward?"

Edward looked at Jasper, then came over.

"I can try."

Edward paused for a minute. He looked repulsed after a moment.

"Wow. Scarlet, you have a very clear memory." I nodded. Edward turned to tell the lawyer what had happened. I tried to fight of a wave of nausea. When Edward had rummaged through my head, he reminded me about that wretched dream.

The lawyer look disgusted when Edward told her.

"I can't understand why anyone would do that to a child."

I shrugged. "The beginning… was a flashback…. The rest wa-." The rest of my statement got cut off by a wave of vomiting. Edward had left the memory of the end of the dream fresh in my mind as I thought about it for his to read, causing me to get sick. Jasper barely moved in time. Samuel held my hair back from my face.

This was the worst fit I'd ever had. More stomach acid just kept coming back up. I couldn't stop for what seemed like hours.

I finally fell back against the bed. I was shaking hard. I was exhausted. I just couldn't get my energy back up. Nor could I get better.

The lawyer looked concerned. So did every single person in the room. My gasping was loud. I couldn't get my breath back. I shut my eyes so I could concentrate on evening out my breathing.

"Scarlet?" Samuel asked softly.

I opened my eyes.

I watched as the lawyer stood up. She held a tape in her hands.

"I think that's everything I'll need to know. Thank you. Scarlet, I hope you get better soon. Thanks, Alice. I'll watch the video tape tonight. I'll bring it back to you tomorrow. Good-bye." She left the room with a wave.

Jasper was talking too low and fast for me to hear. I assumed he was cursing Edward for making me get sick. It wasn't Edward's fault. I just had an extremely weak stomach.

Samuel's father came into the room.

"Samuel, time to go."

"But, Dad!"

"C'mon Sam. I'd hate to see the horror our house has become, but you need to get home and get a decent night's sleep. You know that."

"It's only six in the afternoon!"

"I know, Samuel. You can come back later tonight."

"Dad, I'm staying here."

"Samuel-."

"Dad, I'm staying with Scarlet. I'm not going home until she does."

Samuel's father glared at him for a moment. "You really like her, don't you?"

"Yes Dad. I really do."

"All right then," his father sighed. "I'll bring you fresh clothes tomorrow morning when I show up for work."

"Bye dad."

His father waved and disappeared.

I weakly lifted my good arm and rubbed my eyes. All I wanted was to go to sleep, but I felt awful, and sleep wouldn't come.

"Wow, Scarlet. You look… terrible." Emmett said after a while.

"Shut up, Emmett. She doesn't feel well," Bella and Jasper hissed.

"Well, _sorry_. Not my fault it's too quiet in here. Just trying to make small talk"

"I know. Just keep it to a whisper. And keep the conversation off of Scarlet." Jasper muttered.

"Fine." Emmett growled.

It was quiet for a while more.

"What's… th… the date?" I stumbled over the words.

Jasper quickly ran his fingers through my hair and told me.

"It's the twentieth, honey."

"Oct…ber?" I mumbled. I was so tired; I couldn't even pronounce the whole word.

"Yes. The twentieth of October."

"Oh." I mumbled.

"Aren't you tired?"

I nodded slowly. I was exhausted.

"Try to get some sleep then."

I shook my head slightly.

"Why not?" I felt Jasper put his hand on my forehead, then press it softly against my cheek.

"Night…night…mares." I stumbled. I just couldn't talk right. I started shaking even harder as a convulsion rocked through my whole body.

"You shouldn't be afraid to sleep."

I shrugged. I tried to close my eyes and go to sleep. I was met with a rerun of my nightmare from this morning. I tried to open my eyes, or scream or do anything, but I was hit with a wave of nausea instead.

"Move, Jasper." Alice warned.

Jasper jumped off the bed for the second or third time.

I rolled over and hurled. Tears started sliding down my face. I was sick and tired of getting sick and tired. I laid my head back on the bed.

Jasper sat back down on the bed.

"Try to sleep, sweetie. You need your rest. It's the best way to get your strength back up."

"Can't… can't… I can't…." I tried to say that I can't sleep.

"Shh. I know you're exhausted. Just close your eyes and go to sleep. Nothing bad will happen."

"That's… you say," I gasped. I was freezing, and the pathetic hospital sheet wasn't enough to keep me warm.

"That's what I say? No, that's what your body needs. I'm just trying to make you realize that." Jasper laughed. It was a nice sound.

I shrugged.

"Sleep, my daughter. You need to rest." He whispered.

Daughter? He might've been like a father to me, taking care of me the way he was, but he actually thought of me as his daughter?

Before, I knew it, I was sleeping and dreaming once more.

But before long, my peacful dreaming became a horrific nightmare

**That chapter took over three hours to type. I hope you all are happy! That's the longest chapter yet. It's one of my favorites, too. I love all these chapters. Especially the ones from recently, where Jasper is being awesome. Jasper's the coolest. Edward is just sort of… he grows old. Jacob rocks! Especially once you read breaking dawn. :D he went awesome on us! I have to go do a math workbook… thanks a lot mum! It's summer for god's sake! I probably won't log on until later on today. This chapter wasn't as sad as I thought it would be. Maybe it is to you. I realized I've been using the word convusions wrong. I just can't figure out the right suffix for t. If anyone can tell me what the right suffix to put on the end of convulse is, please tell me. Well, anyway, I hope to have at least five reviews in my mailbox when I log back on later today. Please guys?? Its five reviews. Only five of you have to be brave enough to click that little blue button! I don't bite guys. I really don't. I won't yell at you either for telling me what you think. Review please? And I'll update again tonight while I'm watching the sisterhood of the traveling pants! Or I'll try to. My mother may not let me. :( later guys.**


	14. Chapter 14

Good day, my readers

**Good day, my readers! This chapter is going to be awesome! I have no idea why I'm so perky! Okay, I stopped now. I think it was because I finally got to watch the Sisterhood of the Traveling pants last night. I mean, I have read all the books. I just haven't been able to watch the movie. I can't wait for the second one to come out in two days! Eep! I have to go see it. Crap, the spazziness is coming back. Oh, I tried out something waaaaaaay different for her nightmare. Honestly, if you guys are getting bored with her always falling asleep and having her nightmares, just tell me. I'll try not to make all the chapters so predictable. **

**Okay, so this chapter is completely dedicated to my awesome reader and constant reviewer, Corrupt My Youthful Innocence (please tell me I actually spelled your name right this time!) It's because of her you even have a chapter at that's going to be as long as this one at all. So everyone, say thank you. waits for everyone to politely say thank you thank you so much! I don't know what I'd do with out your reading and reviewing sometimes. With your single little PM you helped make this story a whole lot more interesting, starting with this chapter. :D**

**All right, before the spazziness comes back entirely, here is… drum roll Chapter Fourteen! Hope you enjoy.**

**Screw disclaimers I am NOT stephenie meyer! I am just an average kid who enjoys writing to the extreme.**

Chapter Fourteen.

_It started off so plainly. Me walking calmly in the forest, just wandering. I turned innumerous times, indecisively going one way, then turning around and going right back the other way._

"All right, Samuel. We're going to head home for a few minutes. Call one of us if anything happens."

"Anything as in…?"

"Her waking up, getting sick, anything along those terms will do."

"All right."

"Give her this, if she wakes up before we get back that is."

_Suddenly, the dream changed._

_Every single one of the Cullens surrounded me, crouched in protective stances. My eyes darted from one to the other. Who were they the trying to protect me from?_

_Samuel appeared out of no where by my side._

"_Run, Scarlet! You have to run! She's found you!"_

_I stared at him, confused._

_A snarl ripped from one of the vampires around me. I looked around and realized it was Jasper, snarling at Morgan._

"_Move aside, little vampire. I don't want to have to hurt you."_

_Every other Cullen snarled. She pounced, landing on top of Jasper. She dug her nails into his rock hard flesh, tearing out hunks of it._

"_NO!!" I screamed. Samuel jumped forward to protect me and she broke through the Cullens defense. _

"Aw shit. Where did that cell phone go? Shh… hush Scar… shh… I know… damn it! Why won't they answer? Crap. Hush, Scar. I know. Shh… don't cry… don't scream. Please relax. Damn! Why can't you just wake up? This would so much easier."

I felt my limbs flailing, my breath coming raggedly through my parched lips. I felt the bile rise up my throat, felt myself lean over….

_She smiled sweetly at Samuel. Compared to Jasper, he would be easy to kill. She jumped on top of him, snapping his neck in one fluid motion._

"_NO!! Not him too!" I fell to my knees, screaming. "Kill me!"_

"Scarlet! Please, please, please calm down! Scar I'm begging you. You have to calm down! Ugh-Dad? Finally! Dad! You have to get down here fast. I don't know what's going on. She's totally freaking out!"

_She jumped lithely from one member of the Cullen family to another, killing each one in a different manner. Finally, she finished killing Esme, and stood up. I was the only one left._

"_Ready to die?"_

_I gulped hard. No, I was not ready to die, but I didn't really have a choice._

_She jumped at me. I rolled out of the way._

"C'mon Carlisle! Answer!"

_She landed where I had been just seconds ago. She turned around._

"_Look, you little brat, you _are_ going to die!"_

_I glared up into the horrible, gleeful eyes of my abuser. She absolutely loathed me. All she wanted was for me to die. Why not make it easy for her._

_She lunged again. This time, she didn't miss. I didn't move._

_She pulled out that same twelve inch knife she had used on Samuel in another nightmare. She roughly pressed it to my throat._

"_Good-bye," she screamed joyfully._

"_GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed. She just pressed the knife deeper into my throat._

"C'mon Scarlet wake up… please? I swear to God I hear Jasper coming. He's coming up the hall right now."

"_NO!" I let out one final, tortured scream._

I heard Jasper next.

"Scarlet? Please wake up honey. Please." He placed a cold hand on each of my arms, holding me in place.

"Open your eyes, Scarlet." He ordered.

It took almost every ounce of energy I had to do just that. I saw him sitting right next to my knee, facing towards me.

Tears started to run down my face. Before I knew it, I was sobbing hysterically.

I could feel Jasper try to push the hysteria away. He couldn't.

"Scarlet," he spoke my name softly. "I _need_ you to calm down and relax. You _have_ to. You're practically destroying me with the waves of sorrow coming off of you. Please, tell me what happened." He was begging.

I shook my head slightly. I couldn't do too much more, but I tried.

"E… Ed… ed…ard," I stuttered. Chills racked down my spine, tearing me.

"Ask Edward?" he guessed.

I nodded.

"Edward! Get in here!"

Edward glided in.

"What is it?" he paused for a second. "Oh. _Oh_. Okay. I see."

I closed my eyes and tried to see the nightmare over again. Unfortunately I had no problem doing that.

Jasper sitting next to me kept me from screaming. But I did moan once or twice, and at the end, I rolled over and threw up.

"Well?" Jasper asked.

"That was… horrible. Or for her anyway. Every single one of us were trying to defend her, then her friend appears at her side right before you got murdered… of course, she hadn't burned us, so I doubted that we were really dead but still… It was the first nightmare where I'd actually seen anyone but her and Samuel and that woman in it."

Jasper nodded. Edward left.

I lay there silently, thinking for a while. Jasper contently ran his fingers through my hair, trying to work out some of the knots without hurting me.

After a minutes though, Jasper broke the silence.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Don't know… Anything, I… guess."

"Oh," he mumbled. "I'm sorry," he gave me a sad, sincere look.

"What for?" I asked. As long as I talk quietly, I could say a little bit more with out having to try and get my breath back.

"I don't know… everything. Your being stuck here… the nightmares… and basically everything bad that's happened in your life."

"Don't be… sorry." I mumbled. "Not your fault."

"No…but I feel like it is. I feel helpless." He whispered.

Helpless? Right. "What did… you eat… on that…hunting trip? It's messing… with your brain."

Jasper bursted out laughing. "For your information, I had three grizzly bears and four deers. It didn't mess with my mind. It made it easier to stay in the hospital."

"So? How do…you know? Grizzly blood… is best for… Emmett."

"I HEARD THAT!"

Jasper rolled his eyes. "I always try to get in a grizzly or two. Emmett eats like seven or eight. It's funny to watch him hunt, actually. Maybe I'll video tape it and you can watch."

Emmett came running in the room. "Jasper, if you video tape me, I'll take away your civil war bandana."

"Emmett, I have like, seven. That's hardly a threat."

"I'll attack Alice."

"I'll ruin your Jeep."

"You wouldn't dare…."

"Watch me."

It was fun to watch these two banter. Jasper stayed so calm while Emmett was getting all worked up.

"I'll tell mom."

"You actually think I'm going to do anything? I'm not. I'm just trying to shut you up."

"Mommy!" Emmett wailed was a large two year old. "Jazzy told me to shut up!"

"DON'T call me Jazzy!"

"Emmett, don't call your brother Jazzy. And Jasper, be nice." Esme scolded, poking her head in the doorway.

Emmett stuck out his tongue.

"Emmett, you're acting like you're… five."

Emmett started laughing. "I know, kid. I just like to annoy Jasper."

"Which he does on a daily basis."

I laughed. It was weak, and it made Emmett crack up.

"Kid, you sound terrible."

"Gee, thanks… I was just… just dying to hear that." I muttered.

Emmett laughed again.

"Maybe when you get better we can have a rematch at Guitar Hero?"

"Nah… Mario Kart… is better."

Emmett and Jasper both laughed at that.

I looked up at the. "What?"

"Jasper is the king at Mario Kart… he beat my best high score the first time he ever played it."

I looked up at him. "You?"

"Yeah. Crazy old bookworm me actually beat Emmett at something." Jasper laughed.

"You're not… a bookworm. You read… about as much… as I do."

"I know, and you never keep your nose _out_ of them books Alice and Bella bought you."

Carlisle came into the room. "Emmett, Jasper, Samuel's dad's here. He wants to talk to all of us."

"Oh… uh, okay." Jasper stood up.

They all left.

I lay alone in the room for about ten minutes, just allowing my thoughts to wander.

All the Cullens came back into my room. Samuel's father followed them in. They all stood in random positions around the tiny room. Jasper sat back down.

"Scarlet, he's going to tell you that he believes you have post traumatic stress disorder. Don't freak out when he does tell you. Does act the same way you did when Edward and Bella told you that we're vampires," Jasper whispered so softly that only I-and his family, of course- could hear him.

"You know this how?"

"He just told us. That's why he made us leave." I nodded slightly.

"How are you feeling today, Scarlet?"

"Tired, anxious, bored out of my mind… basically everything that goes with being cooped up in a hospital against your will." I muttered.

"Mmmkay…" Samuel's father mumbled. "Crap… now I lost my train of thought… what was I going to say? Oh that's right! Scarlet, I believe I know why you have these nightmares and flashbacks and why they're making you so sick."

I rolled my eyes. At least I was acting like my self again. "And that would be…?" my voice didn't sound as awful as it did earlier either.

"Have you ever heard of an anxiety disorder called PTSD?"

"Of course I have. Why would this relate to me?" I already knew why.

"Everything that's happened to you has happened after a nightmare or a flashback, correct?" he paused long enough for me to nod. "That's one basic symptom of PTSD. You've been through some intense emotional and physical trauma. It would make perfect sense if you do have it. Scarlet, most of the patients I works with have it. It's not a big deal. I want you to go talk to someone about it, though. I know an excellent psychologist if you all want his number." He told me gently. "He specializes in this sort of thing, and I believe he might be able to help you."

"I'm not going to go see some shrink. It's bad enough I have these crazy nightmares _now_. If I tell someone about them, they always get worse." I hissed, putting as much venom as possible in my voice. "If you want me to talk to someone badly enough, I'll talk to Jasper."

Jasper stared down at me, surprise crossing his face for barely a second.

"Jasper is hardly certified to handle this sort of-," I cut him off.

"Jasper understands me the best. He understands me almost as well and clearly as Samuel does. He hasn't even known me a fifth of the time Sam has." I pushed myself up so I wasn't lying down anymore. "I'm not going to go talk to some stranger who's going to dope me on random anxiety medications and sleep medications because he misinterpreted something I said."

Samuel's father looked taken aback for a moment, then he recomposed him self. "Oh… well, I'm sure he wouldn't _dope you up_ as you say-," I cut him off again.

"You know this how? I'm content talking to Jasper and Samuel. They're my friends, my brothers, everything. They actually help me. They try to keep me calm. Some shrink would just… just make… me talk and try… to diagnose me… me and crap." My sudden surge of strength left me toward the end of my rant. I started to get more tired and I began to srumbled over the words again. Jasper put one hand on my back to keep me sitting up.

I'd already won the battle; I had no idea why he wouldn't give up.

"I still suggest you go see a psychologist. It would be better for you to talk to someone who knows how to help you about it."

"Like she said, she's content talking to me and Samuel. Why push it? If it makes her feel better, and if it helps with the nightmares, why screw around with it?"

"Because I believe a psychologist would be able to help you more."

I snorted. "I… I highly… doubt that."

He turned to Carlisle. "Carlisle, it's your call. Do you want Scarlet to go to therapy?"

"I believe Scarlet knows what best for her and that if she believes that talking to Jasper and your son can work, then I'm fine with allowing her to do that."

"All right then. Scarlet you can go home later today."

He turned and left the room.

"What… ti-time is it?" I asked. I was getting even more tired than I had been earlier. Chills were starting to run up and down my spine again.

Jasper moved his hand and allowed me fall back down against the bed. "It's about five thirty in the morning."

Holy crap. That was freaking early. "What time can I get the hell out of here?"

"After they've done more blood work and officially decided that you may leave." Carlisle told me.

Shoot. That could take hours.

Or not. A nurse bustled in right after that thought ran across my mind. She pricked my arm to draw blood and did just about every random freaking scan possible. By the time she left, I was extremely annoyed.

"Well, I'm glad to see Scarlet's at least back to normal." Emmett joked.

"Shut up Emmett. You're just mad because as soon as we get home, I'm going to kick your butt at Mario Kart."

Emmett pouted. "Huh-uh!"

"You so are. It's obvious."

Emmett stuck out his tongue. He was acting like a two year old again.

"Emmett, you can be so immature," Rosalie hissed.

"But isn't that why you love me?"

"Yes… and no. It annoys me most of the time."

I tuned out their bickering. Emmett always acted like a two year old, that's nothing new. He was just like an overly goofy big brother who hated it when people were too serious. How could you not instantly like him?

Samuel's father came back in.

"You are free to leave now, Scarlet. Your blood work came back perfectly fine."

I nodded. Jasper helped me stand up.

"Can you walk?"

I nodded. "I… think so."

Jasper nodded slightly. "Alice, go get on her other side, I trust about as much as I would trust a newborn."

Alice nodded and darted to my other side.

I walked down the hallway and out the door. It was raining and the water felt nice.

Jasper led me towards a car. He opened the door for me to slide into the front seat. It took him half a second to get around to the other side.

He backed out of the parking space and drove out of the parking lot.

"Scarlet… I'm curious."

Oh, God. "What about?"

"Why me? Why not Bella? I mean, she is your sister and all. Should she be the one to comfort you in the middle of the night and all?"

"Because Bella's life is centered around Edward. Not me, or any of my problems. She tries. But she's happy with her life, and she doesn't need some random kid to look after fifteen years later. You… you always just sort of got me. You understood me. You tried to make me better every night I woke up from a nightmare. You tried. She didn't she might've defended me, but other wise she kept to herself."

Jasper nodded. "I thought that was why. But I wanted to… I had to make sure."

"Don't doubt yourself… dad." I smiled.

"Dad?" he asked, and gentle smile playing at his lips.

"That's what you are to me. Alice is like an obsessive mother. It's not like I've actually had someone care about me this way. My biological father completely ignored me and never bothered to control his drunken wife. Emmett's like the older brother I never had."

"You're exactly like the daughter I never had," he broke out into a full smile. "And that's exactly what you are to me."

At that exact moment, Jasper's phone rang. He picked it up and put it on speaker.

"Jasper?"

"I'm here, Alice what's wrong?"

"Don't bring Scarlet home."

**Dun dun duhhh. You guys are going to absolutely HATE me for this. That is why I have a proposition for you. If I get at least ten reviews by tomorrow morning, I promise I'll post the next chapter which I will work my butt off on tonight, and you'll get another chapter tomorrow night. Who knows? If I get ten more reviews TONIGHT, maybe I'll try to post it tonight instead. Guys, ten of you in only one percent. It's not that hard. Please do it? for your poor writer who is having a terrible summer? for my poor grandfather who just found out he had cancer? please? It's up to you all though. Also, I have a new poll up on my profile. It'll be open until the day I finish this story, so you'll have plenty of time to go and vote. I would love it if you all went and voted right now, but that's just me! Anyway, I hope you all loved this chapter. It's sweet isn't it? The end is, anyway. Why do you guys think Alice told Jasper not to take Scarlet home? You'll find out soon enough….**

**Guys, ten reviews is not alot. I have over a thousand people reading this story. Only TEN of you have to review. I am feeling extremely unloved right now... not by you all, but by my own family. My sister is yelling at me because I hate Bella in Breaking Dawn she was too freaking perfect, and she says I have no taste becasue I prefer Jasper to Edward. Guys, please review... or send me a PM. anything. My life is very lonely right now, and I reeeeeeaaally want to hear from everyone of my awesome readers... puts on puppy dog face pretty please?  
**

**I'm being evil. I know, I'm sorry. I can't help it right now, though. It's something you all will never expect….**


	15. Chapter 15

Hey guys

**Hey guys. Thanks for all the reviews I got! Thanks to everyone else who extremely enjoyed the last chapter. I have to admit, it was one of my better ones. Anyone want to take a guess to why Jasper isn't allowed to take her home? Well… you'll find out in a few seconds, I promise you! Though you short of have to infer… it doesn't tell you right off….**

**I'm still lonely. I have been cut off from all civilization aside from my annoying family! Grrr…. They annoy me to death! Welll... not my parents, but my siblings do! I swear they drive me totally crazy. I've seen my friends a total of three times this summer. one for each friend. If you guys really love me you would review to this chapter and the last chapter. Please? I'm sooooo lonely. All I have are my loyal readers who never talk to me. Well some of you all do. But I'm not talking about you all. You guys are good to me. Too good sometimes. Please guys? Pretty please? I'm begging you!  
**

**Okay, enough begging. You all get my point. Here's the next chapter.**

Chapter Fifteen

"Alice!" Jasper practically shouted. He nearly drove us into another car. "Why the hell can't we go back?"

Alice's phone had disconnected.

"Damn it, Alice." Jasper muttered darkly.

"Where are we going?" I asked softly.

"We're going home. If Alice won't tell me what's wrong, I'll just go find out myself."

"Oh… all right. But… what if it's something bad?"

"You'll get out of the car when I tell you to. The window's are tinted enough no one should be able to see you. Just stay quiet. If it is something bad, I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

I nodded.

He drove the remainder of the way to the old Cullen house. I assumed we were staying here until after the trial, then we would head back to Alaska.

He pulled into the long driveway. He slowed down as he got closer to the house. He was probably sensing how nervous I was getting. Alice's vague warning had left my brain to go into overdrive. I was thinking up every freaking possibility imaginable.

I hadn't realized I'd closed my eyes until Jasper slowed the car to a stop.

"Aw that freaking retarded bitch." He hissed. Who was he talking about? Alice or…?

My eyes flew open. I stared at him. I knew he could feel the waves of fear rolling off of me.

"Oh… whoops sorry Scarlet. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's all right. I wasn't asleep." I mumbled.

"You were, actually, now, Stay in the car, and don't get out. You hear me?"

I nodded obediently.

"Thank God, Scarlet. This'll make things all the easier."

I nodded. I allowed my eyes to follow him as he climbed out of the car, and went over to where every other Cullen was clustered around something.

I strained my ears to hear what they were talking about. It wasn't too hard, as Alice got angrier, her voice got louder.

"-don't know why the hell you would just show up here and beg Bella for forgiveness. It's not _her_ fault you were such a sadistic child abuser."

Oh God. I knew who they were talking to know. I felt my stomach muscles tie in a knot. I bent my head and buried my face in my hands. I didn't need to watch this. I didn't need to hear this, either. My ears began to ring faintly.

"Oh, Alice you haven't changed a bit. You actually look the same too. Was that some new plastic surgery you had? You look great. All of you do." She spoke, her words slurred together. I could tell she was drunk, or hung-over.

I rubbed my temples gently. I was struck with a wave of dizziness as soon as I heard her voice. I tried to put my head in between my knees and breathe evenly, but it didn't really work.

"We come home from the hospital-_ the hospital!_-to find you passed out drunk in the driveway. Mom, how do you think we feel about that?!" Bella hissed vehemently.

The dizziness became more pronounced, as did the ringing in my ears. It was becoming harder to hear.

I was sure Jasper could feel the change in my emotions. He had to.

"Oh Bella, quit being silly. Why in the world would you be at the hospital anyway? It's not like anything's wrong with you. You're perfect. Unlike the _other_ one."

Of course, she had to bring me into the conversation. She didn't even call me by my name. Tears started to silently roll down my cheeks as I fought for to remain conscious. If I passed out, Jasper would be sure to notice.

"Excuse me," Jasper spoke quietly, but still audibly.

"Of course," Bella agreed. "Mom, you're a freaking alcoholic! You're a child abuser, too. Why can't you just get the hell out of here, and go back home to Phil?"

"Phil was being an ass, so I left him. I decided to spend some quality time with my favorite daughter."

Jasper opened the car door. "Scarlet? Scarlet, are you all right?" He knew the answer, but he had to ask. He always did.

I lifted my head slightly, and shook it. Of course I wasn't all right. The dizziness was about to claim me, no matter how hard I fought. Black spots were starting to come over my vision. I shut my eyes tightly and stuck my head back between my knees.

"Are you going to faint?" he asked. He slid into the driver's seat and pulled me into a hug. It was hard to hear him through the ringing in my ears. I nodded weakly.

"Do you want me to take you in the house?"

I nodded.

"Can you walk?"

Again, I nodded. I could walk. "Just hold on to me." It sounded like I was talking in water.

Jasper let me go and climbed out of the car.

"Mom! Go away! Go back to Phil, I'm not babysitting you while you get your act together. Just go away!"

Jasper opened the door and helped me out. He kept one hand on my arm. The cold of his skin felt good. It helped shock me back to awareness a little bit.

Jasper guided me towards the house. He had to walk slowly. I was sure he was debating whether or not to just sling me up in his arms and run. I was determined to walk though. I wasn't helpless.

"_Bella_! Why the _hell_ is _she_ here! How _dare_ you not tell_ me_?" The black dots had cleared off my vision a little bit. I could see here running towards me, I watched her draw her arm back, punching me right in the face, I could see Alice dart forward like the little pixie she was and hold Renée in a vice like grip, then the black dots completely consumed my vision and I was falling.

_I lay, whimpering in sheer agony on the floor. My father had walked right past me and my mother on his way upstairs. My mother opened another can of beer, and poured almost the entire thing into her mouth._

"_I don't know why you're still here," she laughed viscously. "I'm surprised you aren't dead yet."_

_I tried to lift my head, but she brought her foot down hard on my back. I screamed out in pain._

_She kicked me over and stepped down hard on my leg. I screamed again. It hurt. Everything hurt. Everything. _

_She left just then. I lay, crying hard on the floor. Who would be sadistic enough to harm a four year old? Who would have that much hatred boiling in them that they had to hurt someone as badly as she hurt me?_

_Shivers were racking down my body. Everything hurt. Everything was fading to darkness..._

My eyes flew open. I was shaking terribly. I watched as Jasper reached over and put an icy hand on my forehead, then slid it down to my cheek.

"Wow, that really is swelling," he murmured. His eyes glided up to meet mine.

"You're awake," he spoke softly. I nodded. My head hurt when I did so. Jasper must've felt my flash of pain. He reached over and grabbed my bottle of Advil.

"Here. Your face must hurt pretty badly."

I nodded. "Wh-What happened?" I was groggy.

"You fainted." He stated simply.

"I _know_ that. I mean, why?"

"Your… goddam asshole of a mother-sorry about my language- showed up all drunk and actually had the nerve to punch you in the face when I was trying to get you in the house so you could lie down. Before Alice could get a good grasp on her, she punched you. You fell to the ground when I let go of you- that's probably why your head hurts- I had to help Alice calm her down when she was in her little drunken rage. It took forever for her to calm down. Scarlet, I'm so sorry. I didn't know she would freak out like that. Bella took her to the hospital. Like I said, I'm so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen."

"Why are you the one freaking out? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"It should," Jasper agreed. "But then again…."

"Where's Alice?"

"She went with Bella to the hospital."

"Oh…" I paused. I thought back to that flashback. I hardly even remembered that happening. It was eleven years ago, the night before my birthday. I sat up and scooted back a little bit. I wrapped my arms around my legs and rested my chin on my knees.

"You had a flashback, didn't you?"

I nodded.

"Tell me about it."

I remained silent.

"Don't give me this, Scarlet. You have to talk about it. I can make you feel better, or try to anyway."

"Fine," I hissed through my teeth. "My mother was trying to kill me."

"Could you give me a little bit of detail, please? I'm not Edward."

"Fine, she was tormenting me. She was asking me why I hadn't died yet. She was kicking me, and breaking my bones. I was only four." I stopped. It was getting harder to talk about.

"Do you feel sick?"

I shook my head.

"Was that so hard?"

"No… the nightmares are worse." I mumbled.

"I'd believe it. Maybe I'll record your screaming the next time. You ought to hear yourself. It sounds like a dying banshee."

I smiled.

"It'll get easier to talk about, I promise. Even the nightmares."

I nodded.

"Oh, I think Alice and Bella are back. I'll be back in a moment. I'll go grab some ice for your face. I want to talk to Alice, too."

He pressed his cold fingers to the swollen side of my face briefly, then vanished.

I reached up and brushed my fingers over one side of my face. It felt swollen and extremely sore when I touched it.

Even here, where people had constantly promised I was away from all the danger, I was still getting hurt. They never meant for it to happen, and I would forgive them easily, but what about when it still did? I always ended up hurt, and having nightmares. I didn't like being hurt.

I had no idea where my thoughts were going with this.

Alice and Jasper came back.

"Oh, my God! Scarlet! I am _so _sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt. I was still having the vision of what she was about to do when she did it."

"Alice! Relax and shut up! Please!" I moaned. She was making my headache worse. I gratefully took the ice Jasper handed me. "You're just making my headache worse."

"Oh. Sorry," she spoke quieter. "I didn't mean to make your headache feel worse. But I am really, really, really, really, really, really, sorry."

"I get it Alice. I told you, I'm not mad."

"But you should be! Any normal person would."

"Alice, I can't believe you haven't noticed it yet, but I am not normal."

Jasper laughed at that. "She's got a point."

Alice looked taken aback for a moment. "I guess you're right. But still should have been able to stop her."

"How long was I out for?"

"What? Oh hmmm… a hour and a half at least."

"Wow. She hit me hard."

"Oh, Scarlet, You should've seen it. Right after she hit you and you passed out, Emmett attacked her yelling that she belonged din jail and had no right to be here, let alone even touch you. He went crazy."

"Stupid idiotic, overprotective bear," I mumbled.

"Yup, that's our Emmett."

I laughed. "Where is Emmett, anyway? I still have to beat him at Mario Kart. Maybe I'll let him win, just to say thanks."

"Want to play three people?" Jasper asked.

"No! I don't need you kicking my butt along with every other person. You'll crush me!"

"Yeah, you're right. I'll play winner."

"Fine." I climbed off the bed. "But first, I am going to take a shower."

Thirty minutes later, I bounded downstairs. "Hey Emmett! Ready to get your butt kicked?"

"You'd do that to me even after what I did for you?" Emmett asked.

"Of course I would. It's just a game. Maybe I'll let you win and you can play Jasper."

"No! No, that's all right. He crushed me, last time."

I grabbed a remote as Emmett hooked up the Wii. I put it in the Mario Kart steering wheel thing. Emmett didn't, he played with just the remote.

We selected our players. I was Luigi. Emmett was Princess Peach.

Emmett got to pick the level. And we started playing.

I beat him in the first race; he beat me in the second. He beat me again in the third one. I beat him in the fourth.

He came in one place ahead of me.

"Ha, ha. All right, you won. Now you have to play Jasper."

Aw crap."

Jasper obliterated him.

"Not fair!"

"Is so fair. Not my fault you have to be so slow," Jasper laughed as he won the last race. "Now it's my turn to play Scarlet."

"You let Emmett win, didn't you?" he asked so quietly I knew only I could hear. I gave a slight nod.

Jasper started laughing again. "Don't go easy on me."

We played all four races. He could only beat me at one of them, the fourth one.

"You're too good at this." He laughed.

"My turn!" Alice yelled.

"Here Alice, may luck be with you."

I played Alice. I beat her too.

"I want to play you again," Emmett whined.

"Here," Alice tossed him the remote. "She's good. I don't get how you beat her the other time."

"I let him win," I smiled. "It won't happen again."

I played Emmett through. This time, I did beat him. He actually came in eighth every race. I came in first.

"This kid's too good. Who thought the bookworms could do it?" Emmett laughed, pulling me into a big bear hug.

"Emmett! Can't… breathe." I choked.

Emmett laughed again and sat me down.

Jasper and Alice hugged me next.

Right then, I felt whole. Real. Like someone actually cared about me. I had my own little family of immortal vampires.

Right then, I wanted to be a vampire, too.

**Yay! I got this thing up! Okay, so I didn't get the ten reviews I wanted, but who logs on at ten o' clock at night? Well, maybe my awesome readers from other counties… and other people from my country in another time zone… you get my point! I liked this chapter. You people are going to hate me for it! I know you are! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!! Argh quit attacking me. It added a little bit more drama.and some hiumor. who doesn't like a happy Emmett? Okay, I have played Mario Kart at my friends house, but I couldn't remember if it was three races per level or four.Thank you, Vicky, for telling me how to spell Luigi! I was just sitting there thinking about it, and sort of freaking out. anyway, thank you. Yoou can be a little out there though... you fraked out whenI didn't spell it right... you may be my editor, but chill out...  
**

**Okay, ten reviews was a little high. How about I make it five reviews for this chapter, and I'll reply to every one and (hmmm…. I'm not allowed to be on the computer as much anymore. ) maybe I'll try to update tomorrow. I'll be home all day. How about it? Five reviews by the time I get home tonight, and I'll give you a good, long chapter tomorrow. It'll go a little bit forward in time, to the trial and then to thanksgiving. You'll see.**

**Also, I knwo this one is a little bit shorter than the other ones. I'm sorry! I'm grounded, remember? this is going to be hard to update and give you good chapter that are long. I'll try my best tomorrow! I promise i will. Tomorrow will be a good chapter. **

**Thanks for reading guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	16. Chapter 16

Morning guys

**Morning guys. I did NOT sleep well last night. It wasn't raining. Figures. I am so jealous right now. All the Australian swimmers are really good! Not trying to be mean. I want to move to Australia now! I need the training. Anyway, good luck to Australia in the Olympics… you guys are GOOD! We need all the luck we can get to beat you… and we still probably won't. Oh well, it'll be awesome to watch Rebecca Soni swim! And in September are the Paralympics. Maybe I'll go to Beijing so I can watch Phillip Skolz swim… I actually met his guide dog's half brother! Anyway, so we all know now that Australia is the most awesome swim team ever, and Phillip Skolz is an awesome paralympian. I think I feel a little bit better… at least until next week, anyway! I can't believe I'm stuck babysitting my retarded cousin again tomorrow and FRIDAY! Grr… she's driving me CRAZY! Oh, I'm still grounded… my parents are at work though, so I get to use the computer! Yay! You SHOULD get two chapter today… but I also have to do math so my mum can't kill me! Don't hate me if I can't get two up!**

**I fast forwarded in time just a tiny bit… I'll say they had an uneventful week, how bout that? Nothing happened! No nightmares, no flashbacks, nothing!**

**Okay guys, here's the next chapter hmm… I still have no clue how this is going to work out. I think this is the court one… I have to go check my notes. Oh! My mom's a lawyer and I have absolutely no clue how a court session goes. If anything's wrong help me out guys. You'll get the next chapter dedicated to you. I'm going to improvise. I can't believe I actually aced drama. I sucked at improve. Well, maybe I'll try it out again. Everything I understand is from watching courtshows. So… this might be just a bit screwed up… sorry!**

Chapter Sixteen

"_Jasper?" I asked, looking up at him._

"_Yes?" _

"_When's the court date?"_

"_The fourth, why?"_

"_No reason… just curious."_

It had only been a few days ago when I had asked him that, but those few days had gone by extremely quickly.

Now, as the car pulled up in front of the court house in Sacramento-of course, it just happened to be raining- I was actually _scared_. It was weird. I was scared of seeing _her_. Not only frightened of what she would do to me, but petrified. She wasn't stupid enough to attack me in a courtroom full of witnesses… or was she?

Jasper opened my door. I glared at him. I didn't need charity today.

I started walking towards the steps-and just like me-I tripped. Jasper caught me before I had a chance to fall.

"You just need to relax. Scarlet, you're started to make _me_ feel nervous. Tone it done a bit."

He sent a wave of calm out at me. It helped.

"Thanks," I smiled.

He led me up the steps, and into the court room.

The lawyer I talked with in the hospital came over.

"Hello, Scarlet, Jasper. How are you feeling today, Scarlet?" she gushed, I noticed she had the tape in her hands. I swear to God if they made me watch that….

"Much better, thank you." I replied.

"Good," she led us over to the bench or whatever it was called. I sat down next to Jasper.

The door to the side opened, and two cops brought _her_ in. I gulped hard. This would not be easy. But then again, did I ever expect it to be?

The jury was all ready seated.

The judge was the next to enter. We all stood until she sat down. She was a motherly-looking person, with graying hair and smile lines, or whatever they were called.

There wasn't anyone else in the room aside from us, the jury and the judge. I sighed, a little bit happier. At least I didn't have to worry about people staring at me.

It was more of a hearing than a trial or anything. It wasn't like I was suing her, I just wanted her to go to jail and leave me _alone_. For good.

The judge asked for _her _testimony.

"I haven't done anything wrong. It's not _my _fault she's a klutz. I would come home and she'd being lying on the floor, some new bone or another broken. It wasn't as if I would actually hurt a child."

Her words sent chills up and down my spine. Weren't you supposed to tell the truth? If so, she just told one huge lie. I wasn't klutzy enough to break my bones. Maybe fall down a lot, but I had never broken anything because of my klutziness. It was always her or my mother who had broken my bones.

Then the judge asked for ours.

"Scarlet ran away from this woman a little less than a month ago for one reason: she was getting abused. Every night, for that matter. Social Services forced her to leave our home two days later. That afternoon she arrived back at her adoptive mother's house. As soon as the social workers car was out of the driveway, Scarlet was abused. The bruises have faded, but her wrist is still healing. My sisters took her away then, back to our home. Ever since then, Scarlet has had terrible nightmares and flashbacks, and a doctor believes she has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"Do you have proof of the abuse on the night she went back home?" the judge asked.

The lawyer nodded. "I have a tape right here. One of Jasper's sisters filmed it."

The lawyer stood up, and popped the tape into the VCR on the television. I hadn't noticed it before hand. I was about to cover my eyes. I didn't want to see this.

Jasper put one hand on mine to stop me. "I want you to watch this. Maybe it'll help," he whispered softly. I nodded.

The short video started playing. I watched and listened as _she_ was screaming at me and throwing me across the room. I groaned when it finally ended. I was dizzy.

"God, I thought you said that would be _good_ for me." I hissed, fighting off the wave of dizziness. "That's was horrible."

"Good. Not for you, I mean, for her." Jasper smiled. "I'm sorry, little one. I never thought it would be that bad."

"Little one?" I asked skeptically.

"You're so short, why not? It's cute."

"I'm taller than my sister," I hissed.

"I know, now be quiet."

The judge was wiping her glasses off.

"That was horrendous," she finallys poke softly. "Why in the world would someone ever do that to a child?"

Silence.

"Ms. McDowell, do you have anything to say against this horrific piece of evidence?"

_She_ paused then shook her head. "I don't," she squeaked.

The jury bent there heads together. After a few minutes, one man stood.

"The jury has found Ms. Morgan McDowell guilty."

The judge banged her grovel. "Ms. McDowell, you are to spend yen years in prison. You have committed a serious crime, attacking a helpless teenager for no apparent reason. Case dismissed."

The judge stood up to leave.

As we were leaving, we watched as the two cops came back out to take Morgan back to prison. Where she belonged.

_Morgan dragged up the steps. "Good-bye!" she weaved before shoving me through the open door._

_She shut the door and turned the lock. I heard it clock into place._

_She rounded on me._

"_What the __hell__ where you thinking?" she asked. She started walking towards me. I backed up. She stretched out one hand and smacked me across the face with such force it threw me backwards. I landed on my arm. Hard. I swear, I could almost hear it crack._

_She stood over me. "Oh, well, I know it won't happen again." She stepped down hard on my side, before she vanished._

_It'd been like this before. Except usually, she wasn't sober. Normally she'd gotten drunk to the point where she couldn't even stand, but as soon as she would see me, she would attack me. I expected it then. I even expected it now… I just didn't expect her to break my wrist._

_I pulled myself up with my good hand. My side hurt every time I breathed. My wrist was starting to swell._

I jerked awake. "Ugh." I moaned. When would these retarded flashbacks ever stop?

We were still in the car. I knew it was a long car ride home, but I hadn't realized I'd fallen asleep.

Jasper glanced over at me.

"Flashback?" he guessed. I nodded.

"Which one?"

"The one where… well you saw it in the video."

"I had a feeling it would be that one." He whispered. "Doesn't it bother you anymore?"

"Not that one… the rest do. Especially the nightmares. They make me freak out. This flashback… it's gotten old. It doesn't horrify me anymore. More like annoy me." I rolled my eyes. Just then, Jasper's cell phone rang.

He picked it up. "Hello," he murmered. "oh. Hi. One minute." He handed me the cell. "Phone," he told me. I picked it up.

"Hello?" it came out more like a question

"Scar?"

"Sam!"

"Hey, Scar. How was it?"

"Awful."

"I knew you were going to say that. She was found guilty though, wasn't she?"

"Yes."

"Then be happy. Oh, guess what?"

"Just tell me, I hate guessing games."

"My dad said it would be cool if you spent Christmas down here with us. Of course, your whole family could come. My dad wouldn't care."

"Sweet," I mumbled

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Just tired. Long drive back to Alaska."

"Oh. Right. Sorry if I woke you up."

"You didn't, don't worry. I was all ready awake."

"Oh, well try to get some sleep. You sound dead."

I nodded. "All right then."

"Sleep well, Scar. Bye." He clicked the phone off before I could reply.

I flipped the phone shut and handed it back to Jasper.

"Christmas in forks?" he asked.

"You were listening?"

"Puh-lease you knew I would be."

"Maybe I did. Yeah, why? Are you going to tell me I can't go?"

"Nope. I think it's a good idea. Maybe they could come up for Thanksgiving in a few weeks."

"You all don't eat normal food!"

"We'd figure something out, silly Scarlet."

"Oh… seriously?"

"Yes."

"Why, though?"

"You obviously miss him, and we can't actually live in Forks. We lived there fifteen years ago. People would remember us. Or, Bella anyway. Especially that Newton pervert. I just about lost my mind the first time he asked Bella out. The waves of desire rolling off of him. Ugh. It was disgusting."

"Oh… okay then."

Jasper picked up the phone to call Esme just then.

I forced myself to be patient.

"Esme agrees with me. She thinks it's a great idea." He gloated as he flipped the phone shut. "But she thinks it would be better if you went by yourself. No interference from us."

"Hand it here." He placed the phone in the palm of my hand.

I redialed Samuel's number. He picked up on the fourth ring.

"Hello?"

"Sam?"

"Oh, hey Scarlet. God, it took you only seven minutes to get a hold of your family?"

"Yup. They said it was perfectly fine, but I would go down alone. They wanted me to ask you if you all would like to come up for Thanksgiving."

"Sure. The idiotic football players who live here will tear up your house, though."

"I highly doubt that. We have a flat screen television. They can watch football… unless the Colts are playing. Then the T.V. is all mine."

"Allen will absolutely love you then. He's another Colts fan."

"See! And you won't agree with me. You and your Ravens."

"I am loyal to the town I was born in."

"That much is obvious."

"Your point?"

"Mine point is that the Colts are better than the Ravens, and you refuse to believe it!"

"Nuh-huh! In your own little world, maybe."

"Then I am happy living in my own little world."

"I gotta go. I'll see you at Thanksgiving." He clicked the phone off.

"Football argument?" Jasper asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yup."

"Figures."

"Puh-lease. Everyone knows the best part of Thanksgiving is the football! And the pie…"

Jasper shook his head. "Go back to sleep, my little foot ball obsessed one."

"I'm not obsessed. I just happened to have a constructive argument over which team was better. Who do _you _like, then?"

"I prefer the Texans myself."

I rolled myeyes. "And I thought Samuel was bad."

I pressed my head against the ice cold glass of the window, and quickly fell asleep.

**There you go guys! Sorry bout the football argument… me and my brothers did the same thing… except we threw the redskins into the mix. sorry it's so short, too. I was having a hard time typing this. I kept getting ideas for a later chapter. Anyway wadja think? Not the best, I know, you'll get my most favorite chapter the day next Thursday, I hope. I shouldn't be grounded then. Oh! Go read Blackbird Fly by mistresselektra. Great story. All human fic. Probably one of my most favorite fics of all time. She really needs to consider becoming a writer. She's great! Okay, anyone want to correct my horrendous job done in this chapter? I think it sucks… it depends on what you all say though. Okay… I gotta get going I'm tired. and I have to take my dogs out. Later guys!**


	17. Chapter 17

Hey guys

**Hey guys. I'm sort of glad I didn't get a lot of reviews for the last chapter. I know it sucked. I don't need people telling me that. Anyway, I sort of like this chapter… but it's not as good as the one after the next one. It's the day before thanksgiving in this one. Scarlet's still having nightmares… to a degree. It'll get better but… again to a degree. Anyway, go read this chapter. I think it's a good family one. A little bit of romance, too. **

Chapter Seventeen

"Dad, what time are we leaving?" I asked. I was jumping up and down in excitement.

"Relax, Scarlet! You're making me all giddy."

"Right, sorry." I calmed down considerably. "Now, tell me!"

"You're acting like a five-year old."

"Might as well start sometime, I didn't have much of a childhood. Now tell me!"

"We're leaving in an hour to go meet them, at the airport, are you happy now?"

"Not really. Why an hour? That's too long."

"Because, I said so. Go read a book or something."

"I've read all my books."

"Go reread one."

"But dad-."

"No buts. Just cool it. We're leaving in an hour. Go play on the Wii, for all I care."

"Okay!"

It had been like this ever since _she _had gone to prison. I had started acting like am little kid to annoy my father… until the point where he told me to go play the Wii. I would shut up and go bug Emmett.

Jasper and Alice had adopted me a few days after the hearing/court case/clearing/trial, whatever you wanna call it. Bella and Rosalie had acted like complete retards ever since. I'd been acting like a little kid since then, too. I normally could calm down enough so that it wouldn't annoy Jasper to the end of the Earth… but that was hard. I'd never been this happy. It felt good.

I picked up a remote and started playing the Mario Olympics. I still hadn't started school yet. I'd missed almost two months. Jasper refused to send me to a public school in 'my fragile state,' as he called it. I would just roll my eyes when he brought it up. It annoyed me to death. I'd been way better lately. I wasn't as depressed, but I still had nightmares. Not nearly as often as they used to be… now it was just after I'd had a really bad conversation with Bella. Jasper tried his best to keep her away from me. It didn't always work out, though.

After another fifty minutes, Jasper walked over and clicked off the television. "All right, you little bunny. Let's go."

It was his little joke. He called me a bunny when I wouldn't sit still for long. I couldn't blame him. Even Rose would crack a small smile at my inability to sit still.

It took twenty minutes to get to an airport. He led me to watch the plane take off and land on the runways. It was neat. I stared, my attention rapt, as the planes glided into the air. I smiled.

"Watching airplanes? How unoriginal." A familiar voice smirked from behind me.

"Sam!" I screamed, wrapping my arms around him.

"God, I would ask if you're excited to see me but… I suppose that part is obvious."

I laughed, and stepped back. I noticed two tall kids behind him… if you could call them kids. The blonde one had muscles to rival Emmett's. He was checking out every girl between the ages of thirteen and twenty in the entire place. The brunette mainly kept to himself.

"Oh, Scar, this is Adam," he pointed to the brunette, "And Allen," the blonde.

"Hi." Adam nodded. Allen smiled.

Jasper wound his way through the airport, back out to the car. I let Adam ride shotgun. I sat in the middle of the back seat with Allen and Samuel. Samuel didn't shut up the whole ride back to the Cullen mansion. God and I though _I_ was bad….

I showed each of our guests where they were staying, pointedly ignoring Bella in the same manor she did me. Esme had had fun picking out random rooms for each of them and repainting and refurnishing them. I'd hid in my room during that time period. If anyone wanted to pick my brain, they could let Edward do it.

I went to my room- a real bedroom that Esme and Alice had actually agreed to let me decide upon- and curled up on one of the dormer window seats. I watched as the rain started to fall, spotting across the dirt and cement, then pouring down. A flash of lightning cut across the sky, followed by a crack of thunder.

"Watching the storm, are we?"

I turned around, and nodded.

"You really like it here, don't you?" I moved my legs, so he could sit down next to me.

I nodded.

"You know, you'd probably like it in Forks, too."

"Probably... but this is where we're staying right now."

"You all don't stay in one place for long, do you?"

"Nope. Four or five years, six or seven max."

"You all are like modern nomads."

"Yeah… but at least I'm staying with one family, not going from place to place."

"True… your sister… she's… ignoring you, isn't she." He was obviously remembering the way she snubbed me when we walked in.

"You are too smart for your own good. Go become a politician or something."

"I'm not that much of a people person. Besides, I don't want to become some Senator."

I snorted. "Then why do you annoy me to death?"

"Because… it's easy," he stopped himself. I could see the worry flash in his eyes for a moment. "And so is this."

He leaned closer to me, and gently pressed his lips to mine.

My heart fluttered briefly, then skipped a beat. When it picked back up again, his was pounding like mad.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He pressed his lips even tighter to mine.

"Ooo, Scarlet's got herself a boyfriend!"

I shoved away from Samuel. "Emmett, I'm going to kill you!"

"First you have to catch me." He laughed, taking off. I chased him all over the house, until I finally dropped to the floor laughing.

"That's enough, Emmett. I can't breath." I gasped.

"Emmett, quit harassing Scarlet. Scarlet, go get ready for dinner, it'll be ready in an hour." Esme called from the kitchen.

I ran upstairs. I took a shower and changed my clothes. I jogged down the hallway. I tripped right before the stairs.

Samuel reached out an arm and caught me. "Running from Emmett?" he guessed.

"Nope. For once, you're actually wrong." I grinned.

"Crap. Seriously?"

"Yup."

"Dang it."

"You'll live. Come on, let's go get dinner."

Samuel nodded, and followed me as I bounded down the stairs. "Are you always this frigging happy?" he asked.

"Recently… yes."

"Wow… you've turned into a total spazz… but you kiss better than ever."

"Shut up… they'll hear you. And that's the first time I've every really kissed you, you perv."

"What do they have super sonic hearing or something?"

"Or something." I agreed.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm afraid to even ask."

"You should be." I laughed.

I walked into the kitchen right when Esme was pulling a pot roast out of the oven. "Would you two mind taking the mashed potatoes and carrots out into the dining room?" she asked distractedly.

"Do you all always eat like this? I mean, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Not today." Samuel asked, heaving the huge bowl of mashed potatoes off the counter.

"Yeah well... there are a lot of us here. She has to make sure we eat enough."

Samuel nodded. "Two football player and hockey player… dad puts more money into the grocery store than anywhere else. Even the car. Gas prices are crazy."

"I know. Carlisle and Esme were both from rich families, and when they got married, both their families put more than ten million dollars in their shared bank account. Now the money just sits there collecting dust," I lied. How the hell was I supposed to explain to him about vampires living forever collecting billions of dollars from both interest and work?

"Wow. That's just… wow." Samuel mumbled, putting the mashed potatoes down on the table. I grabbed the stack of plates and set the table for twelve.

"Yeah it's weird sometimes. But I got used to it."

"I figured that much." He muttered, then laughed. "I'm, acting like an idiot, aren't I?"

"Yeah well, don't you always?"

"True."

Every other Cullen came into the dining room.

"Mmm… wow. Everything looks great," Alice said with false cheer.. I could hear the strain in her voice.

Everyone else nodded.

"Scarlet, Samuel, could you go get Adam and Allen? I'm sure they're still staring in awe at the television." Carlisle laughed. He was trying to break through his children's worries about eating human food.

I darted into the living room with Samuel.

"C'mon you idiots," he laughed. "Time to go eat. You too really ought to act more courteous than this."

"You're the one making out with the youngest one with the bedroom door open." Adam laughed. "Little bro, you really have to work on your romantic moments."

"You can talk to him about it later. Am I the only athlete here who's hungry?" I interrupted.

The two seventeen year olds followed me to the table. Everyone else was seated. I slid into my seat next to Jasper. Samuel sat down across from me. Adam and Allen sat farther down the table.

Esme brought out the huge platter with sliced ham and pork roast on it. She set it down in the middle of the table.

"Eat up! She chimed.

I watched as the Cullen's face turned from cheerful to disgust and back again as they picked up their food and deliberately put it in their mouths. It was funny to watch.

More than an hour later, Esme and Rosalie gathered up the plates and took them into the kitchen. She came out with four bowls of ice cream. I figured they were for us. No one else around here would willingly eat ice cream.

After dinner, the four of us had a Mario kart competition. Allen won, much to Samuel's dislike.

I plugged up the play station 2 and left them to fight over the most recent Madden game. I jogged up stairs to grab a book, and ran back down. Emmett had taken my place. He was completely obsessed with what the two older kids were doing.

I rolled my eyes and curled up to read.

I must've fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember was Alice running and shrieking joyfully down the stairs and attacking the television remote, trying to find the Macy's Thanksgiving day Parade.

"Alice," I groaned. "This is lame. You more than a hundred years old and you still watch this?"

Alice jumped up and down, nodding in excitement. I rolled my eyes.

"I like the costumes. And the floats. And the balloons!"

"Of course, you never had much of a childhood either, forgive me."

Alice poked me. "Quit the sarcasm. Go round up your boyfriend and his brothers and go outside or something. It snowed last night. Try throwing the football in the snow. Emmett'll go with you if you ask him to."

"He's not my boyfriend!" I hissed, turning red. "I'll go get Emmett, and we'll play three on two. Unless I can get Jasper to play too…."

"Good luck with that." Alice laughed. "He won't leave his room."

Twenty minutes later I had actually gotten every person in the house aside from Esme, who'd all ready started cooking, Alice, who was obsessed with her parade, and Rosalie and Bella, who I didn't even bother to ask, to agree to come out side and play football. Emmett was acting like a little kid on his first Thanksgiving with the way he was jumping up and down ecstatically.

We must've been outside for hours, running around catching and throwing the football. It took Emmett awhile to realize that he couldn't throw it as hard as he wanted to.

I found a patch of ice- by accident when I was running- and, of course, fell down.

"Icy slip and slide!" Emmett yelled. He ran and dived forward, skidding down the ice on his stomach. I rolled my eyes.

"Emmett, you act like a two year old."

"And you're any better?"

"Better than you."

"Dream on little sis. Dream on."

We stayed outside a few more hours, until Esme called us inside. Dinner was almost ready. I was about to laugh out loud when Alice made a disgusted look at the turkey. We all sat down to dinner. I was surprised when Esme and Carlisle actually insisted that we go around and say what we were thankful for. Until then, I hadn't noticed that Samuel's father had arrived. I knew he was coming up today rather than yesterday with his kids, but I didn't know it was now.

I blushed furiously when everyone looked at me. I mumbled something inaudible to human ears and it went on.

Finally, Esme let us eat.

Everything tasted delicious. I had third helpings of everything. I still wanted more. My mouth was watering when Esme brought out the pies. I grabbed a slice of each- French silk, apple, and pumpkin. It all tasted superb.

After dinner, I sprawled out on the floor, watching the boys fight over a football play.

"Just shut up and watch. The refs call the shots, not you," I hissed after they got so loud it became distracting.

They all shut up instantly. Even Emmett did. I'd never seen him listen to anyone but Rosalie before.

Samuel slide off the couch and onto the floor. He pulled me up and hugged me close to him. I rolled my eyes when Jasper let out a low growl. He could be _so _overprotective sometimes.

I leaned my head back against him. I was very comfortable, sitting there, watching football with my friends and family. This was definitely the happiest I'd been in a very long time.

**Yay! I got a chapter up even though I'm grounded! You tell my mother, I'll kill you. Anyway, I'm not feeling too well. My throat is all sore and stuff. it hurts really badly.Whether it's allergies or a cold or whatever. I think it was all that beep ball yesterday. It was sooo much fun. Guys, to to my profile and take my poll. right now it's a tree way tie. break it, please! aw crap, I gotta get off before my mum finds out. Review guys! oh not a very long chapter, i'm sorry, but i'm about to be screamed at. laters!**


	18. Chapter 18

**HAPPY OLYMPICS! The olympics sooooo totally rock. they are like the coolest thing ever. For three weeks, the world is actually in peace. we're just competing against one another in a completely friendly way. Every other day of the year we're at war. why can't we put aside our differences every day? it's crazy! we're always goign to fight. okay, i'm good now. i think i had too much sugar. Sorry, but I am sooooooooooooooo excited!! I can't wait to watch Michael Phelps's butterfly so I can get some tips. I want a lazr racer, man. Yes, that is how it is actually spelled. Ah, I can't sit still!! Okay, fast forwarding to the Day before Christmas Eve. Why? Because it take more than 39 hours to get from Juneau to just Seattle, then add another two and a half hours to get to Forks. That's a long drive! But it all works out. You'll see. Things that have happened since Thanksgiving: Alice dragged Scarlet Christmas shopping on Black Friday. Yup, that's it! No nightmares, no flashbacks, nada. All right, before I go back into my Olympic frenzy, here's the next chapter! Oh, and there a little fight in this one. Well… maybe it's a big one… but everyone will finally find out why Bella doesn't like Scarlet. Or at least part of it. My friend Vicky needs to help me with the other part. Vicky! Help me, my awesome editor! You all are going to absolutely loathe me for the ending to this chapter. I'm sorry! In advanced! You'll find out why soon enough, I suppose… just hang in there for the next chapter!**

**Oh, sorry for that other chapter eighteen thing. I meant to re-upload chapter seventeen, but I hit the wrong one. Sorry! i was doing it too fast. i trusted my brain, not my mouse, and it screwed it up. again, I'm sorry!  
**

**This awesome chapter is dedicated to my awesome editor (insert annoying drum roll) Victoria! She helped me edit this chapter and made sure it was absolutely perfect for guys before I go on vacation. Thanks, Vicky!**

Chapter Eighteen

"Dad what time is it?" I asked, grabbing my backpack before I went downstairs.

"Almost nine, don't worry Scarlet, he'll be here soon." Jasper laughed. "You're as high-strung as a skittish colt. You need to just chill out. He'll be here in twenty minutes."

"But dad, it's going to be the best Christmas ever!"

"You're acting like a little kid again. Just calm down. I don't need a giddy attack." He laughed.

"Sorry, but I'm so, so, so, so, so excited! I haven't seen him in forever. Christmas in Forks, how cool will that be?"

"If you just let me turn you, you could have a Christmas in Forks more often," he teased.

"No Dad! Not yet, anyway. I want to stay human a little bit longer. I'm not ready to give up my life for an eternity trapped by my own thirst."

"There's more ups to it than downs," he mumbled, more to himself than to me.

"Not while everyone here still resents me." He knew I was talking about Bella and Rosalie.

"In a family like this if they have a problem they'll just have to live with it."

"But they won't like it."

"They don't have to. They just have to deal with it."

"I'd rather not have anyone fighting over my existence when it happens."

"Good point. Go on downstairs. He should be in here in a few minutes."

"All right dad. Love you. Tell mom the same." I gave him a quick hug and darted down the hallway.

As I bounded downstairs, Bella glared up at me from the magazine she was reading.

"Where are _you_ going?" she asked scathingly. What was her problem? I scanned my brain. As far as I could remember, I never did anything to her.

"Down to Forks for Christmas," I smiled, putting on false cheer to try and warm her up.

"Oh. I hope the werewolves don't mistake you for one of us."

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"I'm not going near La Push," I mumbled. "Dad made me promise."

She muttered something that was nearly inaudible. It sounded sort of like, "Dad? Right."

A surge of anger went through me. "You know what Bella-," I stopped. I calmed myself down. "Why are you so rude? I never did anything to you."

She only ignored me.

"You know, the way Jasper treats you, it isn't real. He's just working you up so that when he finally kills you, he at least got to know you."

Wait, what? That made absolutely no sense. "Dad would never do that. He told me he can control himself, now. Oh, and next time, think about what your going to say. That made absolutely no sense what so ever."

"I _don't_ have to listen to you. It's not like you're older than me. If anything, _you_ should listen to me. And if you have to do as I say then… I say _don't come back_. We were better off without you."

God damn it! What was her friggin' problem? I never did _anything_ to her! "You know what Bella…."

"Oh get mad already! You are acting like a complete idiot. Any normal person would get mad." She taunted. I tensed up.

"You want me to get mad?" I hissed. "All right then, I'll get mad."

She waited. Anger boiled under the surface. "Ha. I knew it you can't even get mad anymore. What? Is daddy's little girl too good for this sort of th-."

I cut her off. "What the hell is your god damn problem? I never did _anything_ to you! "

"_You never did anything to me?_" She screeched. "You've done _everything_ to me!"

"Like what?" I yelled. "You know what? Don't answer that. Just stay the hell away from me. Forever."

I turned, about to walk out the door. Bella sounded like she was going hysterical behind me.

"You want to know what you've done wrong? Fine. Every time you've had a problem, you've ran off to _Jasper_. To you, it was like Saint Jasper could do no wrong. But you know what Scarlet? I'm your _sister_! Blood is supposed to be the strongest bond there is!"

"You haven't got any blood running through your veins." I hissed. "You're just a lousy bitch you got herself turned into a vampire who now absolutely hates me for something she's brought upon herself!"

"How the hell did I bring this upon my self?"

"You completely ignored me! I'd rather be abused than that! You spent a total of maybe half an hour actually comforting me, standing up for me, or even just _talking_ to me!"

"You never wanted comfort! I never had anything to talk to you about. You and I have absolutely nothing in common. Why should I stand up for you?"

"Because, as you just said, you're my sister! Isn't that what they do?"

"Not to sisters who absolutely hate them for no apparent reason!"

"Bella, I don't hate you. I'm just annoyed by you. You never cared about, well, anything,. Jasper gave me the comfort I wanted and needed. It was easier to talk to him. You never seemed to give a damn about whether I would get better or not!"

"I knew you would get better. That was hardly worth the thought. I did to care about you; you just never seemed to want my care!"

"I can't believe we're actually having this conversation!"

"I hope you die while you're gone! Or get eaten by a werewolf!" Bella screamed. Wasn't she going a little overboard? All this was fueled by bottled up jealousy? I couldn't believe that.

"Are you going just a tad bit overboard?" I asked.

"No! Now leave! If I ever see you again… I'll-I'll-," she broke down then. Thank God. She'd unnerved me enough for one day.

"I can't believe you're this keyed up from a little jealousy." I mumbled.

"Jealousy? How do you know that there isn't more to it than that? And who in they're right mind would be jealous of _you_?"

"I don't know! You, maybe!"

"Oh, Puh-lease, I would never be jealous of _you_. Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Look who's talking!" I screamed, my anger flaring up again. "You're the one who won't just shut the hell up!"

She rolled her eyes.

I opened the door.

"Burn in hell," she whispered behind me.

I rolled my eyes and slammed the door behind me right when Samuel's car was coming up the long driveway.

He stopped and leaned over to open the door.

"I still can't belie- Scarlet, what's wrong?" He must've noticed the angry red patches covering my face.

I just stood there, not talking.

"Get in the car, Scarlet."

I nodded, sliding into the passenger side seat.

"Now tell me what's wrong," he put his foot down and flipped a large u-turn.

"Bella," I muttered simply.

"What the hell does she have to do with any of this?" he'd reached the end of the driveway and turned out onto the road.

"She's the god damn reason I'm so pissed off!"

"Oh. Are you going to tell me why?

I just sat there.

"Damn it, Scarlet!" He banged his fist against the steering wheel.

"God! Keep you're eyes on the road and quit worrying about me!"

"No, I have a better idea." He pulled up to the shoulder and cut the engine, which meant he cut off the heater. Right then, rain began to fall, freezing when it hit the road. The streetlights were on.

I rolled my eyes.

"Talk." He ordered. "Or we'll sit here all day until you do."

I rolled my eyes again. "Scarlet, deal with it, God! Just talk!"

"Fine then, damn it." I hissed. "Bella and I got into a fight over why we absolutely can't stand each other. Sh-she told me that she hoped I was killed while I was with you."

"See, now was that so hard?" he turned the key; warmth began to seep back into the car. He pulled back onto the road. "Do you honestly think I would let anybody kill you?" he asked, carefully avoiding a patch of ice.

"No but… in an ice storm, people can be complete idiots. They never know what they're doing." I pointed out.

"I'm a good driver, I'll dodge them."

"And if you too are on a slick of ice? And you can't control your cat?"

"The streetlamps reflect off of them. It's easy to see them."

"Right. I can't."

"Because you, my friend, did not learn to drive on a tiny, icy morning in the ever raining town of Forks," he laughed.

"Lucky you. Staying in Forks."

"It was actually snowing when I left."

"A white Christmas? For real?"

"Yup. And even better, a white Christmas with me."

"You can be so conceited sometimes. How do you know I actually like you that way?"

"The way you kissed me back." He stated simply.

"I could have been giving in to your desires."

"How do you know what my desires are?" he challenged.

"You're too obvious with your actions. You forgot to close the door, for one thing."

"And your point is?"

"That you can be blatantly obvious and it gets to be predictable to the extreme."

"Oh, please. You know you wanted me to."

"You then, are terrible at understanding body language. I was watching the rain, you idiot." I groaned, slapping him. He pulled off the interstate and drove down the ramp to a gas station.

After ten minutes, he got back in the car and pulled back out to the road.

"I do not suck at reading body language. I must have misinterpreted yours."

"Misinterpreted to the extreme, you mean." I laughed.

He nodded. "I suppose you could say that."

We were both quiet for a minute.

"What were you about to tell me… you know, before you blew up at me?"

"Oh! That I couldn't believe I had actually gotten my license."

"You know everything. I'm not surprised."

"I do not know everything… I just know a lot."

"Of course you do. And bats aren't blind."

"I take offense to that. You're actually comparing me to a bat?" he hissed, jerking the steering wheel around an ice slick.

"No, I'm just saying that you know about as much as Emmett does."

"Hey! No offense, but your brother is an idiot."

"None taken. That's the reason why we love him."

He rolled his eyes, then banged his head on the steering wheel. "I've hung out with you too long. You're starting to corrupt me!"

"Like you were ever innocent."

"True… but still! I never used to roll my eyes or anything!"

"You're the one who put them damn curse words into my mouth."

"So?"

"Cursing is worse than eye rolling."

"How about I rephrase then? Your bad habits are starting to rub off on me." He muttered. "Better?"

"Much."

"Good."

We spent another hour or so in silence. I started out the window at the rain. Every now and then, a song I liked would come across the radio. I would hum along to it. The third time that I did this, I could see Samuel smile slightly out of the corner of my eye.

"What?" I demanded.

"You never used to hum. You would normally sing. I liked it when you sang. It was nice. All those CDs you had burned of you singing- they sounded good. But then you gave up singing for you clarinet. Why?" he inquired.

I shrugged. "When I turned twelve, I lost my voice pretty badly. I never got my singing voice back. I don't want to try it out. It probably sounds awful."

"When was the last time you sang?" Samuel took his eyes off the road for a fleeting second.

"Three years ago, why?"

"You're voice can't be screwed up now. Try."

"No thank you. I'm not singing."

"Why though? I'm sure it sounds great." He encouraged.

"No. I promise I will someday, just not today."

"I'll hold you to that promise till the day you die."

"It won't take me that long to warm up to it again. I haven't sang in years. My voice will sound terrible."

"At first, probably, but what about after you warm up? Wouldn't it sound great?"

"I don't know. Maybe?"

"Don't ask more questions. Just answer it."

"Probably."

We went back to our silence. It was nice, the rain/ice/snow mix pounding on the windows was comforting. I allowed my eyes to watch the road in front of us. I found the ice patches every now and then, but I couldn't find half of the ones Samuel swerved around.

Samuel stopped to get gas again in Whitehorse. We still had a long drive back to Forks. He ran in to the mini mart while the car was being filled up and bought a twelve pack of coke and a large coffee. He had to stay awake somehow.

He pulled back onto the road. We were going a little bit faster than we had been twenty minutes ago. He was still avoiding the ice patches, but they had become closer together, and more of the freezing rain was coming down.

Maybe we weren't really going faster. Maybe it was just me.

My heart was pounding in my ears, blood pumping faster through my veins.

At the next stop light I could see a tractor trailer hit the ice wrong, I could see that he had run a red light. Every other car was doing their best to avoid it, but we weren't going to make it…

Samuel drove through the still green light, trying his best to avoid the ice. The tires hit the ice wrong. He locked the brakes, sending the car spinning and squealing until it collided with the truck

The headlights blinded me for a moment, pain tore through the left side of my body and before I knew it, I was overcome by a blissful, pain free inky darkness.

**There you go! I told you, you were going to hate me for the ending. Guys, you are all going to pick my brain about what happens next. This is not the last chapter!I still hope you all enjoyed it. Don't kill me, please! I'm sorry! but we all knew something had to happen. I don't know if I'll be able to post the next chapter before I leave for vacation. I hope I can. I have four days.  
**

**this is my fourth longest chapter of this story. how sweet is that? i've been having trouble making these chapters longer but now... i've actually gotten a longer one posted. grrr... stupid sugar. i better get off before I start bouncing off the walls. **

**If you guys can submit at least ten reviews, then I'll write and post the chapteras soon as possible. I have, like, the first paragraph written, maybe a little more. the next chapter is one of my personal faves. it's really good. ummm... sooo... review! oh and if you guys are completely bored, you can go check out my other fic I'm in the process of writing. Just a writers' block thing that got out of hand. don't worry, I'll update both stories. it'll be easier as soon as I finish this one. okay, I have to go now. I stayed up really late last night and at only ten forty in the morning I am cxrashing. Later!  
**


	19. Chapter 19

**YAY! I finally hit fifty reviews!! I'm happy now. Considering I've had a bad week. I HAVE TO SPEND NINE HOURS IN A HOT CAR WITH MY ANNOYING FIVE YEAR OLD NEPHEW!! What sensible person would ever come up with that? He annoys the hell out of me. I'll, like, die. He's such a pest. He never leaves me alone. I have to share a room with him, too. This vacation is going to suck. I am not happy about that. I'm supposed to be relaxing and staying calm and he's not going to help me with that.**

**All right, enough of my rant. I've made you guys wait, like, forever for this chapter, so here you go. **

Chapter Nineteen

I was lost in a swirl of random flashes of color and immense pain which after what seemed like forever, faded to a dull ache. Soon, I was surrounded by blissful memories and one or two flashbacks.

I was still half a sleep when an annoying beeping noise began to pull me even further into consciousness.

I tried to turn over, to escape the noise and fall back asleep, and instead groaned. The entire left side of my body erupted in agony. Why wouldn't the pain stop?

Only then was I aware that someone was talking to me. Or rather, talking _at _me. I tried to listen. It was hard. My brain didn't want to cooperate. After a while, I picked up what the person was saying.

"Relax, Jasper. I know you're worried. You're making me even more worried than I already am. But she's _awake_. She'll open her eyes in a few minutes."

It was Alice.

I heard Jasper next.

"Alice, sometimes I don't know what I'd do if you weren't a psychic." I could just picture him wrapping his arms around her, giving her a hug and kissing her. I normally would have rolled my eyes. If I could just open them.

I struggled for a while, until finally I opened them.

I was blinded momentarily by a bright, white light. After a minute it dimmed and I was able to take in more of my surroundings.

I could smell antiseptic, and I knew I was in a hospital. It stung my nose, and my side ached terribly every time I breathed.

The beeping was coming from a monitor somewhere beside me.

"Jasper, she's fully awake now," Alice muttered lowly, then her tone cheered up just a little bit. "Scarlet?" She still sounded worried.

I blinked and looked in her coal black eyes. It was obvious she was thirsty.

"Scarlet, you're awake!" Alice starting being Alice. She threw herself at me, then stopped right before she hit me. "Sorry, I forgot."

I stared at her. "What happened?" I mumbled after a minute.

"You were hit by a truck in Whitehorse. Do you remember anything?"

"Ye-yeah. I remember bright lights. That's about it, though. His headlights, I suppose." I paused. My voice was hoarse and cracked. "How bad?"

Jasper looked at me for a moment. "How bad is what?"

"How bad was the wreck? How bad am I?"

"Nearly every bone on the left side of your body was either broke or fractured. Your knee was pretty much destroyed. Reconstructive surgery fixed that. Your left wrist was broken, as was every finger on your left hand, a piece of your skull got lodged into your brain, they were able to remove it, thankfully, your thigh bone and ankle were both fractured, and your collarbone was broken, too. A couple ribs, also. You've been in a coma for nearly three weeks. Not to mention, tons of cuts and bruises covering every inch of skin."

I stared at him, horrified. "Ouch." I finally mumbled. "That sucks."

Jasper gave me a grim smile. "That's a better summary than mine."

"There goes writing for another month."

"You're left handed?" I nodded. "You won't be able to get that surgery brace off your leg for three."

I stared at him. Crutches for three months? "It's that bad?"

Jasper nodded. "I considered changing you the second I got here. I wanted to, very badly. But Alice told me you would get better, and you would wake up. I remained as calm as I could. I think Alice was more worried than I was. The days were long. We couldn't sleep like a normal human, and the nights seemed to drag on for as long as the days. It was… terrible."

"I can tell."

Then I remembered I hadn't been the only one in the car.

"And... Sam?"

They ignored me. Well, not really, but they didn't answer my question.

"If I'm that bad off… how bad is Sam?"

Jasper looked at me for a long minute. I saw Alice bite down hard on her lip. I could tell they didn't want to answer me. I tried again.

"Please, how bad is Sam?"

"He's alive," Alice whispered after a long minute. "No one knows if he'll live though. He was hit pretty badly. I can't even see if he'll wake up. Nearly his entire body was crushed. His arms, his legs," She paused. "If he does live, they don't think he'll ever walk again, they think he might be paralyzed from his waist down"

My breath caught. He was that bad? "How… How could this have happened?"

Alice and Jasper both shook their head. "Sometimes this world can be cruel. Just be thankful that you're alive."

"But Sam…" I paused. "He might die."

Jasper nodded slightly. "He might. But he most likely won't. He's strong. He'll make it."

I tried to shake my head, but that hurt. "But what if he doesn't? What if he does die? Or even if he does, he won't be able to walk again."

"If he does live, he'll be thankful for actually being alive."

"Oh bite me for God's sake. I don't care," I hissed. "You know that won't happen. He won't be happy until he's able to walk again."

"Than he'll work his butt off trying to walk. Scarlet, like I said, he's strong. He'll do whatever he sets his mind to. But he's been in a coma for as long as you have, actually, a little bit longer."

"Oh."

"You want to see him." Alice whispered. It wasn't a question

"Yes."

"You can't. Not just yet. You can't even move without hurting yourself. Maybe in a week or so, if your any better," Alice promised.

"One week." I repeated.

She rolled her eyes. "One week. Don't go into a relapse, or that deal is off."

"Of course not." I muttered.

"Good."

Whatever they had doped me up on to make the pain go away was wearing off. My leg was throbbing. I knew Jasper saw me wince when a painful ache hit my knee. He hit the button to call for the nurse. I was about to protest, but he cut me short before I even got a word out.

"I don't want to hear it. We know you're all right… well maybe not all right, but we know that you're awake. Alice can see if you're going to go back into a coma."

"So? Maybe I don't want to go back to sleep."

"They're going to give you pain meds. I don't want you in any pain. It's not right."

"Pain meds aren't right. We're supposed to feel pain."

"I don't want to have to feel your pain. It hurts me too much."

I knew what he meant.

"Fine. I'll take them. I don't have to like it, though."

"I don't expect you too."

One week was a long time.

My ribs hadn't been broken too badly. I was able to sit up by the end of the week and breathe without it hurting. By then they had me off of all the monitors and the I.V., making it easier to sleep at night without all the obnoxious beeping. By Friday, Alice had actually allowed me to stand up and walk around a little bit. She handed me pajamas to change into.

I had a huge plastic brace stretching from halfway down my thigh to my toenails. It was bulky, and annoyed me to death. I wanted it off. I could walk with it, but crutches made it easier. They annoyed me almost as much as the brace did. I was slow. The cast on my left hand made it hard to use both. I did my best. It was tricky, but I could do it fairly well.

By the end of the week Alice had given me, I was able to walk around the room without falling or tripping over the retarded crutches or my brace. I tried my best to keep a hold on both of them without hurting my arm. It was hard, but I was able to do it.

Of course, Alice and Jasper never let it on to anyone that I was actually doing that. Well… by the end of the week they did. But it didn't matter. The doctors wanted me to do it anyway. Just not that soon.

"A week's up." I announced one morning after I'd eaten another of the hospital's bland breakfasts.

Alice rolled her eyes. "I'll ask the doctor the next time he comes in." I nodded in agreement and swallowed the pain pills I was supposed toe at after every meal.

The doctor reluctantly agreed. He said he'd be more comfortable if I used a wheelchair, but I refused. It as bad enough I was on crutches. I would kill him if he tried to force me into a wheelchair. I hated feeling weak.

Alice and Jasper both lead me down a hallway. They silently pushed open one door.

Samuel lay on the bed, pale except for bruises covering every visible inch of skin. I hobbled over to the bed and sat down in a chair right next to his head. I gently brushed back a lock of hair with my fingertips. I swear I saw him wince. I didn't try to hurt him too badly, but it was unavoidable.

I racked my brains for a way to try and wake him up. I wanted him to be okay. I didn't want him to die. He was my best friend. My first friend and probably the only one I'd ever have. I also really liked him. He didn't deserve to die. He was too good for that.

I sighed. I kept coming up with only one idea.

"Leave." I whispered to my parents. Even if they had vampire hearing, they didn't have to be directly behind me when I did it.

They looked at me oddly.

"Leave," I repeated. They both nodded and left me be.

"Samuel, this better work, because I will absolutely kill you if it doesn't." I hissed.

I took in a deep breath and softly started singing the chorus to the song that had been stuck on my mind all week.

"Unsinkable ships, sink  
Unbreakable walls, break  
Sometimes the things you think would never happen  
Happens just like that  
Unbendable steel, bends  
If the fury of the wind is unstoppable  
I've learned to never underestimate  
The impossible"

I stropped as he groaned and his eyes flickered open.

"You were wrong," he croaked after a long minute. I stared at him. I was so happy he was awake I didn't dare to ask him if he was delirious. "Your voice sounds ten times as better as it did when you were twelve."

I laughed at that. "You dork. Only you would think that. But at least I kept my promise."

"I know," he groaned. "How bad is it?"

"You're basically screwed for life." I whispered. "They don't think you'll ever walk again."

He groaned again. "I will. I know it. I have to. I'm not staying in a wheelchair for the rest of my life."

"Good luck with that." I muttered.

"What about you?"

"That retarded truck driver could have killed the both of us… but he didn't. The entire left side of my body was virtually destroyed, though. Especially my knee."

"Oh god. I'm sorry. I should have stopped. I was conceited I thought I could avoid the truck but-."

"Give it a rest. I'm not dead, and you're still alive. No harm done."

"You're on crutches!"

"Says the boy who will never walk again." I rolled my eyes. "I'll heal."

"I will too walk again. Just give me a few weeks. I'm going to. I swear, I will."

"Sam, you can try, but you're paralyzed. I know it's possible, just not probable."

"I've been against the odds before, I'll do it again," he muttered.

"I know. Just don't kill yourself trying. FDR spent two years trying to move his big toe. He couldn't. start with that, and if you can, than try walking. Just don't try something that isn't worth it." I spoke softly I didn't want to upset him.

"Roosevelt had Polio. That like, fried his nerves. A part of my brain might've gotten pinched off or my spine got hit or something. I can try to reverse that. I know it's hard, but I can do it. I have to!"

"Relax," I hissed. "I can't be responsible for getting you all worked up. They'll kick me out. They don't even know you're awake yet."

"Fine. Don't leave though." He mumbled. He relaxed quickly. I leaned back in my chair.

"I won't."

It was quiet for awhile. A good quiet. It was peaceful

"You want to know the whole reason I woke up?" Samuel asked after a moment.

"Sure." I mumbled. I had been falling asleep. I had no idea what time it was, and my pain meds were beginning to wear off a bit.

"I thought you were an angel," I stared at him. Maybe he was going crazy from being so tired. He continued. "You know, because of your voice. I didn't think anyone could sing that sweetly."

I rolled my eyes. He had to be going crazy. "You're mental."

He stared up at me, frightened. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-."

"No, no. In a good way. That wasn't exactly what I was referring to. I can't sing that well. Not like an angel."

"Yes you can. I'll record you one day."

"You do that."

He was silent for another long minute.

"I still think your singing is great."

"Mmmkay."

"I like it. It was sweet. What made you sing that particular song, though?"

"It's been in my head. I could only remember the chorus though. I haven't heard that song in forever."

"Oh. It's a good song."

"I thought it was suitable for the situation."

"You would."

"That's my saying! You can't use it."

He rolled his eyes.

"That's mine too, you can't have it."

"I'll have it if I want it."

I rolled my eyes. "You do that, then."

"And there is your famous saying, along with your signature eye roll."

I nodded, smiling. I winced as my leg started throbbing again.

"You're in pain." he whispered. I nodded.

"Go on back to your room, then. I'll be fine."

I hit the button for the nurse. "You're not getting away without pain meds."

"S'not like I can feel my legs, any way."

"Get some sleep," I grabbed my crutches and pushed myself up. "You need it. Don't have a relapse, either."

"I won't." he promised.

"Good."

I leaned brushed my fingers over the only unbruised part of his face, and left right before a nurse walked in. I knew I was going to be yelled at. Technically only family was allowed in here. I didn't care. I felt better having seeing him, and twice as good seeing him wake up.

**I can't believe I actually got this up. It's the last chapter I'm posting before I go to the beach. I need a break. This has been one awful summer. I screwed up my swim season, got totally walked over by a group of bitchy girls, got outright told by my sister that she hates me (she's the one who can't freaking support herself!) got yelled at by the same sister because I got annoyed at her son (he;s a retard and i can't stand him. whats the point in trying?) and found out my grandfather had liver cancer. This school year is going to suck, that's for sure. Gotta go. I have to make sure In packed everything. Maybe the ocean air will help clear my mind a bit. **

**I'm sorry this update was so late. I was really sick. My muscles still ache from it. I really couldn't drag myself out of bed longer than the time it took to check my email, even that made me dizzy. I know it took forever, but I just started feeling better. when i get back you should get a chapter every day, or every other day. I still am sick. It feels like it's coming back. so not good.**

**You may all thank Joe Nichols for that awesome verse and the entire song for that matter, it's called the impossible, and it really is a great song. I love it.  
**

**I have a challenge for you guys. The total reviews for the last chapter was five. Double that and you have ten. I don't really expect ten reviews by the time I get home, but at lrast five would be completely awesome! I'll post the next chapter, which I will write while I am chilling on my balcony at the beach, if you guys do. I do have internet access down there, but I have to pay for it. I might check my email once, so don't kill me if I take a while to reply.  
**

**Go check out Going for the Gold, my all human a/u fanfic. It's sort of like what I have to live with just a little bit stronger. I think it's a good fic for me to write, seeing as I don't usually talk about it. I think you guys would really enjoy it. Laterz!**


	20. Chapter 20

Hey guys

**Hey guys. I'm home. Tired and hungry, but home. I didn't want to leave. I swear, Today was like, the perfect day for going to the beach. The rest of the week of either too rough or rainy. Friday it was really rainy, and that's where the majority of this chapter came from. My best writing always happens near water, especially when it rains or when I'm at a swim meet. It also help take my mind off of things.**

**So, I've kept you all waiting a week while I nearly killed myself…. Okay I nearly drowned in the ocean, but don't blame me, blame that stupid hurricane/…. Tropical storm…. Whatever that was attacking Florida! Aside from that I tripped and fell about eighty times, and rehurt my screwed up ankle. So, you all get my point here's the next chapter.**

Chapter Twenty

The following week passed quickly. I spent practically every waking moment with Samuel. He was truly amazing, astounding me Wednesday when he heaved himself up out of bed and took a few wobbly, unsteady steps towards me before he collapse back onto his bed completely exhausted, but grinning like a three year old in a candy shop.

"Told you," he had gasped. "Told you I could do it."

When I asked him how, he just grinned wider and said he'd been staying up late every night since he'd woken up trying. I couldn't believe him, what with all the wires still hooked up to him. I probably would have fallen.

Every day after, he had tried to do it again, a couple days actually taking a few steps more than the day before. But after ever effort, he would collapse back down, twice as exhausted as any normal human being should ever be, and twice as aggravated. He wanted to do more. It was all I could do to console him and tell him that it would take a while to regain full use. He refused to listen, though.

Sunday morning, after I had eaten my breakfast, I headed down the hall to Sam's room.

I knocked once on his door before pushing it open and going in.

He was awake, propped up on a ton of pillows reading a car magazine. He tossed it aside when he saw me come in.

I sat down in my usual spot by his head. He turned his head slightly so he could get a better look at me.

"Hey Scar," he mumbled nearly inaudibly. It was obvious he was tired. I joped he hadn't been staying up late trying to walk again. He could do it, if just barely. He didn't have to push himself so hard now.

"Hey Sam, how you feeling?"

He closed his eyes for a minute before whispering in a cracked, sore voice. "I'm exhausted."

His answer surprised me. Even when I could tell he was tired, he never admitted to it. He was normally too stubborn. He had to be extremely worn out to admit to anything.

"Why?" I asked. It was really a syupid question, but I still had to ask.

"I don't know. I guess because they've drawn more blood today than usual. I was tired from the second I woke up, and it's not helping that they keep sticking needles in my arms and taking pints of blood. I can't replenish it fast enough." I knew he was exaggerating about the pints of blood part, but I figured the rest was true.

"Aw, Sam, I'm sorry. Try to get some sleep of your so tired." I told him, reaching over and pulling the sheet up.

"No!" he protested. It was weak, and his voice cracked horribly. "You're here. It wouldn't be any fun if I fell asleep. You/d be bored out of your mind, and then you'd leave."

"I'll live, and I won't leave unless I have to. You need to rest, and I wouldn't say no to a little cat nap."

"No. Keep me awake. I don't want to go to sleep. I got more than fourteen hours of sleep last night. I don't need any more till tonight. Do anything you have to do to keep me awake."

I was quiet for a minute. "Um… okay then. Have you seen your dad since the, you know, accident?"

Sam was quiet for a minute, then he nodded. "Yeah. He came up last night. Says he's been really worried. He's got to work, he says, so he can only get up here on the weekends. It's a long drive. He brought me the magazines."

"That's good." I couldn't think of anything else to say. Instead, I reached forward and brushed a lock of hair off his face.

We were both quiet for a minute. At first I'd thought he'd fallen asleep, until he asked me, "how much longer?"

"Hmm?" I asked. I'd been falling asleep. The near silence was peaceful. "How much longer, what?"

"How much longer are you going to have to stay here? I mean, you're fine now. Sure, your leg is still pretty messed up, but you don't need to be here right? I want you to stay, that's all. Once you leave, I'll be alone."

"I don't plan on leaving for awhile. If I do, my parents will stay in the hotel room they've been staying in since I got hurt. I'd just stay there with them, until you got released. They would understand. They're nice people."

Sam nodded slightly. "Mmmkay. That's good. I don't want to stay here alone."

"You don't have to. I'll be here. And you're dad will come up Saturday nights. You won't be alone."

"No… but I like it when you're here. You make me feel better, like I can do anything and everything I want to do. I really like you, Scar."

"I like you too, Sam. You're the best friend I've ever had." I smiled gently.

"No. I mean, Scar, I think I love you."

Seriously? I decided to get a straight answer though. "I love you too Sam. You're like a brother."

"No, I mean Scar, I think I'm _in _love with you."

I figured that's what he had been trying to say. I didn't day that though, instead, "Seriously?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

I leaned back in the chair. How was I supposed to tell him the same thing if I was hardly sure if what I felt for him was the same as what he felt for me? How could I tell him that the first time I saw him I fell in love with him? He was like the brother I never had. I'd always known we would be friend, but I never wanted anything more than that. You wouldn't tell a guy that, no matter how much you liked him. I couldn't form the words, but I knew same could guess what I was trying to say.

"You're trying to say it, aren't you"

I nodded, finally my lips formed the words my tongue had been choking on. "Sam, I think I love you, too."

It was a different sort of love I felt for Alice and Jasper. I loved them as my parents. It was even different that the sort of love I had for Bella, which was more for respect than anything else. No matter what she believed my flaws to be, I still loved her like the sister she was. She could deny it all she wanted to. We were still sisters. I loved Sam like a brother. That was all, I don't know why I said that. He'd be devasted if he found out I loved him in a diffrent way than he loved me.

Sam nodded, and groaned. His eyelids flickered for a moment. I watched him silently, hardly daring to breath until he jerked his eyes open.

"Ugh. I don't want to fall asleep. I finally get a tiny little insight to what your nightmares are like. They aren't fun." He moaned.

"No, they're not, but you shouldn't be afraid to go to sleep."

"But they're so vivid. It's like it's happening all over again, and it's not fun."

"I know. What do you have nightmares about? The accident?"

He nodded. "I see it again, over and over till I wake up. It's annoying. I don't want to see it, because I don't feel like I'm getting real sleep. I just want them to go away."

"Normally after I've had a nightmare, Jasper or Alice would come running in and demand me to tell them what happened. Would you like me to do it to you?" I was only joking.

"No, thank you though." He laughed weakly, the laugh turning into a hacking cough. "I don't think they're quite that bad, yet. At least, they aren't as bad as yours were." He added softly. "Do they still come back?"

I nodded. "Once and a while, usually after something bad has happened. That morning Bella and I got into it I was sure I was going to have another one. But thanks to a retarded truck driver who ran a red light, it didn't. He saved me from one night of torture at least."

"But he put you through a whole world of pain," Sam added. I shook my head.

"It doesn't hurt that much, honestly. He got you worse than he got me. The way the truck hit, it was more on the driver's side than on the passenger's. Or, so I've been told."

"I'd believe it. I'm glad I didn't offer to let you drive though. I'd kill myself if anything like this happened to you."

"You would not! And besides, if I had known that this would have happened, I would have forced you out of the driver's seat before you would have had time to realize what I was doing."

"I wouldn't let you. I should've stopped I saw the truck but at the moment he had been so far away from the lane…."

"The ice made us spiral towards the truck."

"Oh."

We were quiet for a while. I felt myself falling asleep again. Until Samuel woke me sith a start.

"Now I have to watch you fall asleep? Shouldn't it be the other way around?" he laughed weakly.

"Maaybe," I stretched out the word.

"Ugh," he groaned and turned over. "I am so tired."

"Then quit fighting it and go to sleep. I won't mind."

"No! I can stand to stay up a little longer. It doesn't bother me that much. I'm just saying."

"Keep saying that and I'll leave so you can sleep." I threatened lightly. He knew I wouldn't leave for a while longer.

"You wouldn't. I know you too well."

"You're point?"

"Ugh. I don't know. I think I'm fighting a losing battle over here. Or two. One with my eyelids and one with you."

"You've already lopst both of them. Go to sleep."

"I don't… want to," his words were becoming even quieter.

"You should. Don't strain yourself to stay awake. It's hard."

"I should… be able to do it." He mumbled.

"Fine, stay awake, if it makes you happy," I sighed, giving up. "How long ago did the last nurse come in?"

"Right before… you… did," as if on cue, I heard a knock on the door. A nurse came in carrying a small tray with a ton of medical tools on it.

Samuel groaned and sat up. The nurse poked his arm, and waited. When she was done, she took a piece of folded gauze and taped it to his skin. I noticed a few other places where this had been done. He wasn't kidding when he said they wouldn't leave him alone.

When she was gone, I asked him, "Do you know why the keep doing tests?"

He shook his head. "Something might not be coming up right. Or they just want to keep running scans to make sure nothing bad comes up. I don't really know."

"Hmm…" I sighed.

We were silent now. I started falling asleep, and I could tell Sam was too. Somewhere between my half sleeping state and reality I remembered he wanted to stay awake. And that he wanted me to stay awake with him.

"Sam? C'mon Sam, stay awake. You told me to keep you up," I reach out and put my hand in his. "C'mon stay up. You wanted me to wake you if you fell asleep, didn't you?"

His shut eyes fluttered open. "Scarlet," he gasped. "Scarlet, I can-," his voice died right then. His eyes fluttered shut. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze before it went limp.

"Sam?" I asked softly after a minute. "Sam!"

The rise and fall of his chest was quick and labored, more so than it had been when I first came in. I only noticed it now, though, because I hadn't been paying sufficient enough attention.

Tears weleld up behind my eyes, and slowly started rolling down my cheeks. Several fell in Sam's hair and on his face.

I grabbed my crutches and pushed myself up. No matter how badly I wanted to stay here, I had to leave. I just felt that I had to.

Tears still falling, I hobbled out to the hallway. Instantly, Alice runs up and envelopes in a hug, wrapping her arms around me as best she can.

"Oh, Scarlet. I am so sorry," she whispered.

My tears fell into her spiky black hair. "What's going to happen to him?" I asked.

Jasper came up behind me. Both Alice and him exganged a long look before one of them finally answered.

It was Alice who did.

"Scarlet, Samuel's blood tests haven't been coming back the way the doctors want them too. The numbers- they're way off. I mean, they're very, very high. Higher than they should be."

I felt my stomach muscles tighten. My throat felt like it was swelling. Terrible fears clouded into my mind, at least one of them was about to become a reality.

"Which means?" I managed to choke out.

SAlice and Jasper exchanged another glance.

"Scarlet… Samuel has cancer."

**ARGH!! Don't kill me!! If you do, I won't post the next chapter tomorrow morning like I planned to, so there! I don't mind threats, just don't threaten to kill me, and I'll be very happy. Okay, my review thing for you to challenge tonight is… five. Okay, I'm not going to be greedy. I would LOVE five reviews by tomorrow afternoon at noon, or umm…. Well…. I think that's nine o clock p.m. in Australia and six in England. I thinks that's wrong, though. Don't kill me if it is. I haven't mastered all the time zones of the world yet. My summer project was to memorize Algebraic formulas before eighth grade starts next week. I didn't. I was too busy writing this, and umm… well…. A really good book that I hope will be published sometime a couple of years for now, another reason why updates for this story might become few and far between. I don't mean to guys, but what with swimming, field hockey, and homework, along with writing and working with my awesome editor, I really only have three weekends a month to update. SORRY!**

**Okay, so let me repeat myself: I would love five reviews by noon my time tomorrow, and I do enjoy reading threats… as long as no one is threatening my death by pitchfork. Any other death threat os welcome. Just not by pitchfork. That's a little violent and a whole lot of gross.**

**Night guys! I hope you all enjoyed it!**


	21. Chapter 21

yawn hey guys

**yawn hey guys. I do not like being home. I think maybe I'll move down south… everybody is so nice and friendly and I've got the ocean to help me write and plenty of equestrian centers. I did have internet access…. Here's the downside: I was only allowed on for fifteen minutes, and then when my awesome uncle hooked up his internet, he didn't have anything like Microsoft word or word perfect or even word pad. It was crazy. I did have a dream about this chapter, though. Or the beginning, least and the ending of the last one, too. I'm tired still. **

**Here's the next chapter. I don't have enough to ramble about right now.**

Chapter Twenty One

"W-what?" I asked. How could that have happened? I felt faint. "What kind?"

"Leukemia. They don't know if the cells had started mutating before or after the accident, but they think before because of the way it happened so fast," Jasper explained gently.

I shook my head. "That's… that's not possible." A faint ringing began to pick up in my ears.

"I know it seems like it…. But it is," Alice whispered.

I shook my head again. This wasn't happening. "Will… what are his chances?"

"Not very high. His body is still trying to heal from the accident, and now his body has to fight with this. They don't expect the chemo to help much, but they're going to try."

I looked down at the floor. Black spots started clustering at the edges of my vision. He was going to die?

"Why?" I mumbled. Why him?

"No one can answer that. Maybe he'll live. We just don't know."

I nodded. The spots were swarming over my vision now. The room started spinning a little bit.

"Scarlet?" Jasper asked softly. "Are you all right?"

I shook my head. Alice was watching me intensely.

"Here, come sit down." He led me towards a chair. I sat down and leaned back, fighting off the dizziness.

"Here," I cracked my eyes a little bit and watched as Alice cracke open a can of soda before pressing it to my lips. "Drink," she instructed gently.

I complied. The soda made me feel a bit better, but not much. I could feel both my parents' stares as they watched me.

"Feeling any better?" Alice asked.

I nodded. "A little bit."

I heard footsteps coming towards us.

"Is she all right?" someone asked. I didn't know who it was, but he sounded genuinely concerned. "Did she faint?"

I opened my eyes partially. I watched as Jasper nodded. I allowed my eyes to flicker to person who had just come over.

He wasn't much older than I am. Maybe sixteen or seventeen at the most. That surprised me; I had thought he would have been much older.

Alice pressed the can of soda to my lips again. I swallowed three big mouthfuls of it before she pulled it back.

"C'mon, Scarlet," Jasper helped me up, keeping one hand firmly on my back to keep me from falling over. The black spots were clearing a little bit, but I was still dizzy.

"Do you need any help getting her back to her room?" the boy asked. He seemed like he was really worried and like he really cared.

To my surprise, Jasper consented. "That would be great, thank you."

The boy closed one hand around my upper arm trying to hold me steady. Alice darted ahead to open the door.

The boy led me in and guided me towards the bed. I collapsed on it. Alice handed me the can of soda. I gulped the last of it down quickly. Alice took the empty can to throw it away.

"Do you want anything else?" both Jasper and the boy asked at the same time.

I cracked my eyes open. The room wasn't spinning as much now. I opened them the whole way.

"No, I'm fine now, I think," I mumbled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," the boy raised his eyes to meet mine. I was awestruck. His eyes were beautiful, the clearest shade of blue I've ever seen.

I sat up, drawing my leg up. I shot a glance at Alice, trying to tell her with my eyes to clear out.

Apparently, she got the message. "C'mon, Jasper."

"But Alice-," Jasper started to protest. Alice was stronger though, she pulled him out of the room. I couldn't help but stifle a laugh. My father was a sucker for Alice.

The boy was laughing too. "Are those your parents?" I nodded. He continued, "They seem a little young."

"I was adopted," I explained.

"Ah, I see." He nodded. We were quiet for a minute. "What's your name?" I asked. I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Ethan." He replied. "I take it your name is Scarlet?"

I nodded. I liked it.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Umm… I was in a car accident about a month back. They haven't released me yet." I paused. "You're not a patient here, are you?"

He shook his head. "I'm here visiting my mom. I live down in Juneau."

"Really? Weird. I live there too, or well, the woods around it, but, you get my point," what was it about this boy that made me ramble so much?

He nodded.

We were silent for a long time. I didn't ask anything about his mom. If he wanted me to know, he would tell me.

I enjoyed the silence. It was peaceful. It made me feel better about everything that had happened.

"Er, um, I should, go now," he stuttered.

"No, no it's fine, stay as long as you want. I don't care."

"No, I have to get going. I have to drive back to Juneau and pick my sister up before dinner's ready," he paused. "But I would like to see you again. Maybe when you, um, get out of here, we could… get together? I'll call you, if you want."

I nodded. "I'd like that." I snatched a picked up a notebook and tore a piece of paper out. I pulled the pen out of the spirals and scrawled my number on the paper.

"Call me whenever you want, I don't care."

"Thanks," Ethan smiled. It practically made me melt, it was so warm. It made his eyes sparkle and dance.

He turned and left.

I leaned back and closed my eyes. I wasn't dizzy anymore. I felt great. He was amazing. I didn't care if I had just met him. I liked him. _A lot_.

Alice ran in just then. "Ooohh Scarlet, he's _cute_! I can't wait to take you shopping again! Do you know how absolutely bored I've been? I know just the thing you should wear! I saw it at Hollister just the other day; I know you'll love it!" She was jumping up and down ecstatically.

"Alice, since when do you shop at Hollister?"

"I like their clothes. They're_ so _cute! Anyway, I've got to go shopping! You're father's going to go hunting, do you mind staying here by yourself? I hate having to leave you, but-," I cut her off quickly.

'

"No, mom, I swear, it's fine. I'm just going to write a little bit and read maybe. I'll be fine, besides, it's not like I'm alone or anything."

"No, no, you're right. I'll right, I'm leaving. I should be back in a few hours."

"I nodded. "That's fine, mom. I'm just going to write. I promise I won't get into trouble."

"I know. All right, I'm gone," Alice bounded happily away. I shook my head. Sometimes, Alice acted too much like a teenager and not enough like an adult. I loved her anyway, though.

I picked up the notebook. I mainly just scrawled random lines, but after a few minutes, I had a chorus to a song written. I paused, and then continued. After a few more minutes, I had the whole song written. I paused, reading back over it. It looked good, nothing like the usual crap I used to write. I hadn't written any songs for a while, but I like this one. I hummed it a little, than sang it softly. It was good, I had to admit that.

I doodled a little, out of sheer boredom, then tossed aside the notebook and picked up a book. I was bored and I wanted out of here.

A couple minutes later, I put the book down, too. I was too bored. I didn't want to read, I wanted to get up and do something. I had too much pent up energy.

I groaned and started twiddling my thumbs, but that was so retarded I didn't do it for more than a second.

I let my thoughts wander. They went everywhere, darting from Samuel to Ethan to Bella and back again.

After a while, I heard a knock on the door. Someone pushed it open.

"Can we talk?"

I looked up.

In the doorway stood Bella.

**ARGH!! Yes I know it's a short chapter, no killing!! You all got a chapter last night, too. I swear that ending was just a stroke or writing brilliance. I am holding the next chapter hostage because well… it's still trapped inside my brain. I actually wrote the song Scarlet was writing, but I can't find it on my computer. It was more of a poem about this really cute guy at school, but any way… I'll give you the next chapter if I get five reviews by tomorrow morning. I didn't get five reviews for the last chapter, but I still gave you this chapter. That just goes to show how much of a sucker I can be. I'm not giving you the next chapter till I get five reviews, and I will stand by that! Okay, also, what did you all think of Ethan? I personally like him more than Sam. Sam was weird at points… okay, blame me, he is a figment of my imagination, but Ethan is the cooler of the two. Mmmkay I gotta go. REVIEW, threaten me, I don't care. Just make me laugh. Corrupt My Youthful Innocence sent me a very long and funny threat; I swear that made my morning. Don't kill me because this was a short chapter, either. The next will be MUCH better, I promise!**

**Okay, I know I haven't reminded you about this in a long time, but go vote at my poll on my profile. It will be up until I finish this fic, but everyone's opinions matter, especially now. go vote guys!**


	22. Chapter 22

Hey guys

**Hey guys. I am enjoying my week of peace whole-heartedly. A whole week without my nephew. He's down south in North Carolina. Thank God. Ummmm I don't really have anything tot ell you all but that school starts in exactly eight days, and that your chapters will be fewer once swim season starts up. I'll be too tired to post every day, sorry! But with field hockey on Mondays… which means its going o be on my birthday.., and swimming three times a week until field hockey ends, you all should get three chapters a week. Maybe more depending on how light the homework load is.**

**Mmmkay my notices are done, please enjoy the following chapter:**

Chapter Twenty Two

Today was completely insane. First I find out Sam has cancer, then I met a totally hot guy after nearly passing out, and now _this_? What was this freaking world coming to?

"What do you want?" I asked coldly. I didn't mean for my voice to sound as cold as it did, but what else would you expect for someone who basically verbally assaulted for leaving?

"Like I said, I want to talk," Bella came further into the room and stood warily a few feet away from my bed.

"I get that. Why do you want to talk to me?"

"Because… because what I said to you last month was rude and inappropriate. I never should have gone and said that. I mean, I guess, I was sort of… jealous," she finished lamely.

I stared at her. "What would I have that you could ever be jealous of?"

"Nearly everything I wanted. You have parents you didn't have to take care of, everything like that, and, even though I loved my parents very, very much, I had to look after my mother for seventeen years, and I cooked for my father as well. You just have it a whole lot easier than I did," her reasoning seemed pathetic to me, and I wondered if she was lying to cover up the real truth.

"Yeah, right, you would enjoy being physically and verbally abused every night by someone who is supposed to be taking care of you? You must be a sick person, than, because I can't name one person who would ever take that willingly," I hissed. "You didn't _have_ to take care of your parents, either. It wasn't an obligation, you chose to."

"_Someone_ had to keep an eye on her so she didn't run off and do something completely stupid," Bella retorted. "As for my father, he was completely helpless."

"It's in the human race to do something stupid every once and a while, that's how you learn. Even you should know that. And what's wrong with not knowing how to cook? That's why they invented microwavable meals."

Bella gave me a hard stare. "I did know that, actually, but some of the things Renée wanted to do were outright dangerous. I couldn't let her do that. One of us had to be the parent."

I had flinched when she said the name. Our last encounter was still fresh in my memories, and she had just brought it up again. "It didn't have to be you."

"My mother was a child at heart. She needed someone more mature to take care of her."

"From the time I'd spent with her, I'd say neither of you are truly mature enough to be trusted." I muttered. I was going to regret saying it, but it was true.

Bella stared at me coldly, but she looked defeated. "I know."

I blinked in surprise. She was actually agreeing with me? "Then tell me the real reason you came here to apologize before I have you kicked out."

"You honestly want to know?" at my quick nod, she continued, "All right then. I wasn't lying when I said I was jealous, but not only that, I was… I was upset what with all that had happened between… everything. Like the fact that you liked _Jasper_ more than _me_, that you always looked to _him_, that you never seemed to want me as your sister, everything along those lines. It was hard to take. And then, I was still struggling with finding out I actually had a sister. I was going over ever possible way it could have happened. Then that my mother abused you, my mother had never been a drunk before, so that was hard to understand. I didn't trust that you had actually told the truth until she came up to Forks that one day and I smelled the alcohol on her breath. It was disgusting. And when I called her, I had no idea if she was actually telling the truth or not. How was I to know? It's not as if I had Edward's power or anything. Even then, his power doesn't work as far as I needed it too. I felt… betrayed, I suppose is a good way to put it. Because once I accepted the fact that I might actually have a sister, everything started happening. Your nightmares, my mother coming back, and your trust of Jasper constantly growing, it was all so much. You didn't give me much of a chance to really get to know you. Everything I wanted to know about you I had to learn through Alice. And then… when they adopted you, I was outraged. As I saw it, you were _my _sister, and they had no right to do anything of the sort. It was a lot to deal with, honestly… and then the fight I got into with you… I don't even know where that came from. I think I was just really upset about something that wasn't supposed to be a big deal. I mean, technically, at least you're safe, and you have Jasper and Alice to take care of you. I should be thankful for that; you could still be stuck with that child abuser. I guess… I suppose I was looking at things the wrong way. I should have opened my mind and tried to talk to you about everything before it got out of hand like it did. I am really and truly sorry. I never meant for anything bad to happen to you. Holidays make me a bit… touchy at times, and Christmas especially. I just… I couldn't contain my emotions anymore. I am honestly sorry, for everything that's happened to you, I mean, I had no right to act the way I did. Like I said, it was rude and uncalled for." Bella said all this without pausing.

I was silent. She had given me a lot to think about in a short amount of time. She stood, waiting patiently, for my response. I decided to keep her waiting a little longer while I continued to ponder everything.

Everything she had said made sense enough, so why couldn't I just trust her? Well, basically because, no matter how much I wanted to, I had an instinct not to. I wanted to, badly, but something told me not to. What if she did it again? Not that I would cross paths with her again when she was in a bad mood, but still… it was all too weird.

Yet, still, I saw no better thing to do than to forgive her. "Bella… I understand and accept your apology," I told her. "And in turn, I have one of my own to offer you."

I had no idea what I was doing, but still, it seemed like the right thing to do. Bella looked at me, surprised.

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Scarlet. All the immaturity was on my side. You acted like a level headed person would."

"But Bella, I never should have just some up to Juneau like that. In truth, I didn't even know if you actually existed. I couldn't remember what any of the photographs of you looked like, or even your name. All I wanted was someone who would believe me, someone who wanted to help me. Someone with enough power to do just that and, at the time, you and your family seemed like the perfect way to go. I should never have done that. It was a completely mental thing to do."

"No, it wasn't. It was smart. You should've gone to the police, though. They could have helped you find us and everything. They could've arrested that woman, too. Why didn't you try?"

"Actually, I did. When I first moved into her house. But… I was labeled as emotionally unstable and reserved to a dangerous point. They thought I was suicidal, and that this was just some crazed idea I'd come up with, that this nice, sweet middle aged woman couldn't do anything as violent as child abuse. They said some one as sweet as her wouldn't even hurt a fly. When I was living with her, I did consider suicide, actually. On several occasions, I never did anything, though. I just couldn't picture actually trying to kill myself." I explained quietly.

"You actually considered committing suicide? You _are _crazy," Bella meant this as a joke, and in that one second, all the tension between us broke.

"You would have too if you were in my predicament, I'm sure."

"I probably would have. I feel so bad for you, though. I don't know what happened to both Renée to make her as violent as she was. I mean, if she knew she couldn't take care of you, why didn't she give you up for adoption? And why didn't Phil ever call the cops on her?"

"My… _father_ loved her. He would never do anything like that to her, she would go to prison. I could have testified, but I didn't. And my _father_ was the neglective one. Truth is, they just wanted to do things that little kids couldn't do, and having me seemed to slow them down. My _mother_ would scream at me when she abused me, she always cursed me profoundly, telling me to get the hell out or some other thing. She was always drunk. I don't think she's been sober for more than twelve hours in the past fifteen years."

"I still can't believe my mother would put you through all that. She never wanted anything bad to happen to children. She was always content taking care of them. She was a school teacher for pity's sake. She would never do anything to hurt a child."

"Alcohol makes people do weird things. It messes with their minds. And besides, when I lived with them, she never worked. She stayed home all day when I went to school, then I would come home and they wouldn't be there. They would come home about eleven thirty or midnight, usually no earlier. She would be drunk, and he would just go upstairs and watch T.V. and wait for her to finish with me. It wasn't as if either of them truly cared about me."

"Wow," Bella muttered softly. "That's sounds… horrible."

I nodded. "It's not the life style I would choose for anyone. Even an enemy should never have to be put through that sort of torture when they're an innocent child."

Bella nodded. "That's absolutely true."

We were quiet for a minute, and then Bella asked. "How's your friend? I just missed Alice, so I couldn't ask her."

I closed my eyes for a long minute. I could see Samuel lying on his bed, so pale… so sick… so tired. I didn't know how he could ever get through treatments. Finally, I whispered, "He's got cancer."

I opened my eyes. Bella was staring at me in shock. "Oh, my God. I am so sorry! I had no idea. I just thought he was still recovering from the accident. Nobody told me he was sick."

"I just found out today. I'm pretty sure everyone else did, too."

Bella looked at me, she looked truly and completely sorry. "I had no idea. I'm so sorry. Do you know if he's going to be okay?"

I shook my head. "Not really. No one expects him to. I want him to live, I mean, I really like him… just not in the way that he likes me, I think. He's like my brother, he was the closest thing to family I had in Sacramento. I never expected anything to happen between us. I just don't want him to die." I mumbled.

Bella nodded. "That makes sense. I didn't want my friend Jacob to die right before our battle with the newborns about sixteen years ago. He asked me if I wanted him to, and I told him I didn't. It would hurt me too much if he died. That was a pretty stressful day for me. I loved both him and Edward, and both wanted me to choose one or the other. Then the battle… it was too much, what with Jake practically dying and all."

"Wow. You're human life sounds… crazy. What did you do, though?"

"As much as I loved Jake, he had always been my best friend, and I knew that was the way it was meant to be. Edward was my soul mate, my true other half. I knew which one I couldn't live without, and that was Edward." Bella paused, and then started laughing. "Why do you ask? Do you have two boys vying for your attention?"

"Something like that, yes actually."

"Well, who are they then? Is your friend one of the two boys?"

"Yeah. Him and this guy I just met today. Ethan."

"How long have you and Sam been friends?"

"A little more than a year, why?"

"and how long did it take you to realize you loved him, like a brother or otherwise?"

"Practically the entire time I've known him. I've just never thought of him in that way before."

"And this Ethan kid, how long have you known him?"

"A few hours."

"And you like both of them?" I nodded. "That's exactly what happened to me. It's a hard choice to make, but I'm sure you/'ll make the right one."

Bella shook back her sleeve and took a glance at her watch.

"Holy crow, I have to get going. I promised Edward I wouldn't be gone long" she paused. "but before I leave, I have this for you." Bella picked up a wrapped object I hadn't nopticed beforehand. "Your Christmas present from Edward and me."

"You didn't have to get me anything," I objected.

"It's Christmas, everyone deserves at least one present." Bella handed me the present.

"Thank you. Oh, and everyone's presents are at home in my room, hidden in my closet, I had left a note for Jasper but I'm sure he didn't get it. Your is the one wrapped in the silver paper."

Now it was Bella's turn to protest. "You didn't have to get me anything. Didn't anyone tell you I don't like presents?"

"As you said, it was Christmas, and everyone deserves a present."

"Did you spend money on it?"

"Yes. It didn't cost more than thirty dollars or so, so you shouldn't be freaking out."

"Mmmkay whatever. I really do have to leave now. I'll make sure everybody gets their presents tonight, and I'll drtag everyone up here tomorrow to come and see you. Promise. I'll have them bring all your presents, too. We'll have our own little Christmas right here, even if it is closer to Valentine's Day than Christmas. That sound good?"

I nodded. "That's fine."

"Bye, Scarlet," and with that, she darted out the door.

I looked down at the present, and pushed it aside. Even though I was curious to see what was in it, I could wait until tomorrow. I'd never gotten presents before in my life. What was one more day?

As I laid back and waited for sleep to overtake me, I made one certain decision.

Tomorrow, before all the Cullens got here, I was going to visit Sam.

**HOLY FREAKING CROW! You guys HAVE to love me for this one. TWO chapters in ONE day. You all might et a chapter tomorrow… if… hmm… let's see… this is chapter twenty two, and two plus two equals four but I always get four reviews for a chapter so… if I can get five reviews for this chapter, than I promise to update tomorrow evening. If not… well then you all will just have to wait till Tuesday… you all don't want that to happen, do you? Remember, threats are always welcome, as long as they don't include pitchforks, the death of micheal phelps or phillip Skolz, the stealing or my oreos, or the removal of swimming form the Olympic games or course. Oh! Or the cancellation of my riding lessons. I mean, I'm just starting to jump two foot high oxers. You can't take that from me!**

**So, five reviews by six thirty tomorrow evening. I want to know what you all thought. Do you like the fact that I made them make up? And how about the Eclipse reference? Review guys! Latrz!**


	23. Chapter 23

Wow Christmas time

**Wow Christmas time! Wait, isn't it like, august? Okay yeah, it's August but I meant Christmas time in the chapter. Get it now? Okay, good, now we all get it. Umm…. I was bored last night so I came up with something when I was sleeping. Yeah I know it's weird, but that's how I write, through my dreams. Mmmkay. Enjoy.**

Chapter Twenty Three

"Scarlet, wake up. C'mon Scarlet it's nearly nine in the morning. They're going to be here in twenty minutes," I heard Alice call gently in a singsong voice while gently rocking my shoulder.

I groaned and rolled away from her. I wanted to sleep.

"Scarlet, wake up!" Alice hissed, shaking me harder.

"No," I mumbled. "Sleep time. Christmas later."

"You've been asleep long enough. It's time to wake up!"

I swear, sometimes my mother was the child.

I opened my eyes a little. The bright light blinded me after the calm darkness of my eyelids. I rolled over so I was looking into my mother's overjoyed face.

"Mom, I'm exhausted. Can't we do this in a couple of hours?"

"Scarlet, what time did you go to sleep last night?"

"I don't know, five thirty, maybe?"

"Five thirty... in the afternoon?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I suppose that's right."

Alice looked worried. "I think you've been asleep long enough. You need to wake up now. Everyone else should be here soon." Then she added as an after thought, "Do you feel sick or anything?"

She pressed her icy fingers to my forehead. I jumped when they touched me, they were like little ice cubes. She slid them down to my cheek, and then pulled her hand back.

"Scarlet, your skin is _hot_."

I stared at her. "Isn't it always hot to your skin? I mean, my skin is a whole lot warmer than yours."

"No, I mean, hotter than usual." She reached into her purse sitting on the chair, and pulled out a thermometer. "Keep that under your tongue while I go a find your father."

I nodded, and she left.

She was probably overreacting. I felt fine. Okay, I was colder than usual, but who could expect anyone to stay warm the pitiful sheet they provided you with? I did as she told and stuck the thermometer under my tongue. I might as well appease her so I don't get a lecture.

When it beeped, I pulled it out. I could here Alice's voice at the end of the hall, talking rapidly to Jasper. I glanced at the numbers on the screen as they came in.

Jasper reached over and gently pulled the thermometer from my fingers.

"One oh two point three… God, Scarlet that's high."

I shrugged. I have had worse.

"So? I must've caught a cold. That's nothing new. Bad luck seems to follow me everywhere."

Both Jasper and Alice started to laugh. "That's true," Alice agreed.

"Are you cold or anything?" Jasper asked quickly.

"Yeah, I am a little cold. That's nothing new though. I've woken up cold for the past three days. How can you be warm in this place?"

The two of them looked at me. "Scarlet, these lights make even _us _feel like we're out in the sun, they're so bright. And the heat they give off is bizarre. How can you be cold?"

I shrugged. I had no clue.

"Oh, they're here. I'll be right back." Alice promised quickly before darting away.

I lay still on my bed. Jasper reached over and pulled the sheet up higher towards my chin. I pulled my arms out from under it. How else could anyone be comfortable on these beds? I hated sleeping under a sheet, and I hated having my arms under any blanket.

Alice came back and handed me a cup of hot chocolate. I sipped it slowly. It felt good, the warmth between my hands, but it made me shiver.

Alice noticed. Of course she did. When did she miss anything?

"Does that make you feel any better?"

I nodded.

"All right the-."

"HO HO HO! Merry Christmas," I jumped a mile. Emmett came running into the room, cutting Alice off. He spoke just loudly enough as to not disturb anyone who would be sleeping.

That's not what had taken me by surprise though.

Emmett was in a full blown Santa suit, with a wig and sack of presents, even a pillow underneath the coat to make it look like he was fat.

"Emmett!" I tried to shout, but my voice cracked horribly. Great. Now I could hardly talk.

"What? Can't Emmett Claus come to wish you a merry Christmas?"

"No! Not now anyway," I rasped. "On Christmas, yes. Not when it's practically the end of January."

"Aw," Emmett's face fell.

"All right, fine! You can be Emmett Claus."

"Yay! May I introduce the rest of the Claus family?"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever makes you happy."

Every other Cullen came in. Thankfully, none of them were dressed up in costumes.

"I tried to tell him not to," Esme laughed. "But he just wouldn't listen."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Figures. Emmett, you can be so immature!"

"Yes, but immaturity rocks!"

"If you say so, Emmett," Jasper sounded like he was fighting back laughter.

"Can we just hand out presents now?" Bella asked.

"Sure!" Emmett pulled out about a dozen presents from the bag. "Ummm… I have no idea who these are for. Anyone else want to be Santa?" Emmett paused. "Carlisle! I choose you!" Emmett pulled off the wig and put it on Carlisle.

Carlisle grimaced. "Thank you Emmett, because I wanted to be Santa so badly," his voice was dripping with sarcasm, but he put up with Emmett's exuberance.

"Esme," he handed a package to her. "Emmett, Bella, Edward, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Scarlet, me, and another one for Bella," he handed the present to the person as he called out their names. One of the presents he handed Bella I recognized as the one I bought her.

For a moment, everyone was silent, aside from the sound of ripping paper. After a moment, everyone let of sigh or squeals, letting the person who bought it know how much they like it.

I unwrapped a small square box. Inside it was a very pretty silver chain necklace, with a tiny crescent moon strung on it.

"Oh my God," I whispered. "That's so pretty."

After that, Carlisle just emptied out the entire sack and handed everyone a large stack of presents. I mostly got books- books that were well over five hundred pages. At least they would take me a little while longer to read.

At the end, only one present remained.

That was the present Bella had given me the day before.

I carefully slit the paper, and pulled it away. What I saw took my breath away.

It was a carefully bound book, but when I flipped through it, there were no words, only lines patiently waiting for my pencil to etch words into the surface.

"Oh, my God." Oh all the presents I had gotten, this one was definitely my favorite.

"You like it?" Bella asked nervously.

"Like it? I love it! Thank You!"

Bella looked surprised. "I just… Alice told me once that you liked to write… and that pathetic spiral is falling apart. I just thought that this would be nicer to use."

I smiled happily. "It will be. Thank you so much."

Everyone looked extremely pleased with their gifts. Emmett actually asked me if they had a Wii here. When I told him they didn't he looked like a little kid who had just been denied a trip to Disney Land. But he cheered up instantly.

"hey, mom, when can we go home?"

"Later, Emmett."

"But _mom_, why not _now_?"

"Because I said so. If you want to go home so badly, you can run."

"Okay! Bye!" Emmett turned, about to take off.

"Emmett Cullen! Don't you dare leave!"

"But mom, you said I could run!"

"I didn't think you actually do it!"

"Oh." Emmett let out a huff of air. "Fine then."

I laughed. I still couldn't figure out how Rosalie put up with his idiocy.

A nurse brought my lunch in around twelve thirty. I wasn't hungry, especially for the crap they fed you here. Just the sight of it made me feel slightly nauseas. I rolled away from it.

"Aren't you hungry?" Alice and Jasper both asked worriedly.

I shook my head. "No, not really."

I could practically feel my face pale as the minutes stretched longer. Everyone's voice became a distant hum, until Alice's high tinkling voice cut through to me.

"Scarlet, try staying awake for a few more minutes. Please. Can you do that?"

I nodded weakly. I was just getting sleepier. If I fell asleep it was my fault.

Rolling onto my back made feel twice as bad. I felt all the color drain from my cheeks. My forehead was covered with a cold sweat. I wanted to reach up and wipe it away, but my limbs felt like led. I was so tired.

"God, you're pale, Scarlet," Emmett whispered.

I nodded. I closed my eyes for a minute. Then opened them, remembering that Alice wanted me to stay awake awhile longer. I could still feel myself falling asleep.

Alice stuck the thermometer under my tongue again. When she pulled it out, I watched her grimace slightly.

"Jasper, it's higher."

To me it seemed as if these two were in their own little world, separate from their family whom were still clustered around the small room, with only me to think about.

I groaned, and tried to roll onto my side. I could feel myself falling asleep. I didn't want to, but I was just so tired.

Through my half sleeping state, I could hear Alice and Jasper explaining something to Carlisle.

"This just sort of came on. I have no idea what happened. I just don't know. She was fine yesterday."

The voices began to fade into the background. I heard when they mentioned Sam, though. That snapped me back to awareness.

I remembered that I wanted to visit Sam this morning.

"Sam," I croaked weakly. "I wanted to… visit," I stooped trying to take a breath. "Sam."

"Shhh," Jasper whispered, his icy fingers gently brushing the hair back from my face. "Get some sleep Scarlet. You'll feel much, much better when you wake up."

I groaned in response, still fighting to stay awake. It was a losing battle, though. I could feel myself falling asleep.

It didn't feel restful though. I could feel myself come back to near-awareness on several occasions, but either Jasper or Alice would whisper to me and make me fall back asleep.

Finally, I fell into a deeper, calmer state, allowing my subconscious to take over.

That was the first time I dreamed about Ethan.

**Aw, poor Scarlet's sick.** **You have to admit though; the Emmett Claus part HAD to be funny. I was cracking up when I typed it. I've been sick like that before. Years and years ago. It was not fun.**

**Hmm… okay. I got five reviews for the last chapter, so since this is chapter twenty three and three plus two is five and then add one more to create a difference between this chapter's review count and the other chapter's review count… that makes six. Hmm… six reviews and I'll update tomorrow night. Deal? Okay, then start reviewing./ I promise Ethan will come back. But I'm not telling you if he does in the next chapter. T o find out you'll have to review… **

**All right night guys. I'm sorry if this was late. I had a writers block moment. Bight!**


	24. Chapter 24

God

**God. You all certainly know how to rise up to challenge. I mean, seriously. Why does everyone think Sam's going to die? I know this chapter is late, but I got home really late last night and didn't feel up to typing. Just be glad that I got this up today. Ummm… I got bored when I started typing this, and decided to add more drama on Ethan's part… you'll see what I mean in a minute.**

Chapter Twenty Four

I had no idea why I had a dream about Ethan. I'd only met him yesterday for pity's sake. I hadn't even thought about him once today. My thoughts had been on Sam as I was falling asleep.

In the dream, Ethan was sitting alone in a dimly lit bedroom. He was staring at the wall, hardly blinking, as if he was horrified.

A girl not much younger than me came in and sat next to him. She was about twelve or thirteen. She had a knife in her hands, and faint scars on her wrists.

"Ethan," she whispered softly. "Ethan, did mom die?"

Ethan nodded, not moving his eyes from the wall.

"Ethan," she whispered a little louder, pain audible in her voice. "Don't cry when I die."

Ethan's eye flickered. He turned to look at her. "What? You're not going to die. I'm going to take care of you."

"No, you're not." I watched as she took the knife and pressed it hard against her skin until she had made deep gashes on both wrists.

Ethan looked completely horrified. He pressed his fingers against her wrists, pressing hard, as if trying to stop the blood flow. When he pulled his fingers back, they were dripping with his sister's blood.

I shivered, and watched horrified as he stared at his sister helplessly. He grabbed the phone off the bed and dialed quickly. I could only assume he had 911 on the line. He talked quickly, giving his location and his sister's name.

I could tell it was pointless, no matter how fast they got there, his sister would probably all ready be dead.

I closed my eyes. I didn't need to see the look of pain, of suffering on his face that I knew would be there.

I groaned and rolled over. I was still tired and every part of my body hurt. I buried my face in the pillow, trying to go back to sleep.

After a few minutes, I rolled over again and opened my eyes. I didn't want to go back to sleep anymore.

Jasper was sitting on the chair next to my bed, reading a book. Alice was sitting on the floor at his feet, flipping through a shopping magazine.

Alice was the first to notice I was awake.

She jumped up off the floor quietly whispering my name. Jasper shot up as soon as he realized that I was awake.

Alice pressed her fingers to my forehead, pulling them back satisfied.

"Scarlet?" Jasper asked softly.

I nodded to show him I was listening.

"You're still tired." it wasn't a question

I shook my head. "Honestly, I'm fine."

Jasper knew I was lying, but the longer I kept my eyes open, the more alert I felt, and the less I wanted to go back to sleep.

We were all silent for a moment. I remembered Sam just then. How sick he looked, how tired….

"How's Sam?" I asked quietly.

Jasper looked at me sadly. Alice bit down hard on her bottom lip.

"Err… Scarlet, Samuel had chemo yesterday and… he umm… he didn't respond very well to the treatment." Alice said quickly.

Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, _crap_. My stomach twisted into a knot.

"Which means…?" I asked slowly. I was sure I didn't want to know the answer but I had to. I just… had to.

"Samuel's er… well he's umm… Oh I can't say it. Jasper, you tell her."

I stared up at my father. Hurt was burning in his eyes as he thought about what he was about to tell me.

"Scarlet, Samuel's dying."

My stomach untied itself. I knew that's what he was going to say. Even still, I didn't want to hear it. I had to see him, to see for myself….

"I want to see him," I mumbled, sitting up.

"Scarlet, I don't know if that's the best idea…" Jasper said. "I mean… you were just sick, and you're still pretty weak… are you sure you can handle seeing him?"

I nodded. "I have to."

Jasper still looked uncertain.

"All right then. Can you walk?"

I slid off of the bed. I stumbled a little, but was able to stand and walk without any problems.

I walked down the hall towards his room. I knocked once before pushing open the door.

He was lying in bed, his eyes closed, his breathing rapid and shallow. He was so pale his skin looked whiter than the pillow he was laying on.

I sat down on the chair next to his bed.

His eyes flickered open in that exact second. He looked around for a second before his eyes landed on me.

"Scar," he croaked hoarsely.

"Shh," I whispered. "I'm here."

He nodded, a smile spreading weakly across his face. "Yeah, you are."

"Sam?" I asked softly.

"Hmm?"

"You're not… I mean are… the chemo didn't work too well, did it?"

He shook his head. "No, n- not really. It's completely sapping my strength."

I nodded. "It looks like it."

His face a paled a few more shades.

"Ugh. I feel awful. I'm so tired, but I'm afraid to close my eyes for too long."

"You shouldn't be afraid to sleep. It's the only way you'll get stronger."

"But what if I die? I don't want to die. I'm barely sixteen. I can't die." He closed his eyes.

I leaned back in the chair. If he was falling asleep, I would let him sleep. I wasn't going to keep him awake.

His eyes flickered open. "See what I mean? I can't sleep for too long because it freaks me out. How am I supposed to know if I'll wake up?" his voice became quieter and rougher. I wondered how much energy this was costing him just to stay awake and talk.

"Sam… you should sleep, though. By staying awake you're only hurting yourself…." I urged.

"So? S'not like it matters anyway," he mumbled.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter? Sam!" I hissed.

"I'm dying Scar, I can feel it. I'm barely here anymore. I'm too weak… too tired. I just can't…" he moaned and closed his eyes again.

"Sam!" I whispered. "Please Sam, stay awake. You have to live. You have to."

His eyes flickered open. His hand reached out for mine. I gave it to him. His skin was cold.

"Scarlet, I can't keep fighting. It's too hard…." His eyes slid shut.

His cold fingers squeezed mine for the briefest second, then he whispered so quietly I barely heard it, "Bye, Scarlet. I love you."

His breathing became fainter. I pressed my fingers against his wrist. His pulse was faint. I could barely feel it.

After a few more minutes, his breathing stopped all together. I felt the tears spill down my cheeks before I had even realized that they were there. I pressed my fingers against his wrist again. This time, I couldn't feel a pulse.

"No! No, please Sam. Please don't die. Please! I can't… you're my best friend, how can you die?" I whispered, my voice cracking.

I reached over and brushed the hair out of his face. After the one chemo treatment, not too much of his hair had fallen out.

I don't know how much longer I sat there. I didn't want to leave. I knew that when I left, I would never see him again.

Finally, I stood up. I needed to get out of here. As much as I knew I would miss him, sitting here crying wouldn't help any. As much as I wished that I didn't have to go… I knew I couldn't stay in there much longer.

I wasn't paying attention as I walked down the hallway, and I ran into somebody.

"Oh, I sorry," I muttered distractedly.

"Scarlet?" asked a familiar voice.

Why _him_? Why _now_?

I looked up, and my eyes met those familiar sapphire pools.

"Scarlet, are you all right?" Ethan asked.

I nodded. "I'm fine." I reached up and wiped away the tears on my face.

"You don't look fine. Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened. I'm _fine_." I hissed.

Ethan looked hurt. "All right. I'm sorry I asked."

"No, wait. Don't be. I should be sorry. I shouldn't have snapped… I'm just sort of… I don't know. My friend just died."

His face softened. "Oh. I see now. You're upset, aren't you?"

I nodded.

He wrapped his arms around me in a hug. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" I asked.

"Because you and your friend must've been very close and their death is obviously hurting you very much."

"Oh…," I sighed.

"I know I really shouldn't ask but… why are you here?" I asked after a few minutes.

"Hmm? Oh… because my mom passed away last night."

"Oh, I'm sorry." I whispered. I could tell it was hurting him.

"Yeah…" he stared off into space for a while.

I sighed again. This wasn't really a good time for either of us.

"Ethan… I better get back to my room… I want to sit down for a minute and… ummm…" I mumbled.

"Hmm? Oh. Okay. It was good seeing you again," he smiled half heartedly. I could tell the death of his mom was really bugging him.

On the way back to my room, I thought about the dream I had. Hadn't Ethan's mom died in that dream, too? And his sister… she had slit her own wrists. And where had his dad been? Couldn't he have stopped the girl from taking her own life?

I shook my head. Too many questions and not enough answers.

I walked through the door into my room. I collapsed on the bed. I closed my eyes, but all I could see was Sam's face, so pale… so cold.

"Scarlet, I am so sorry." I jumped. I'd forgotten Alice and Jasper were still here.

I bit my lip for a second. "Couldn't you have done something? Anything?" I asked softly.

Alice nodded. "I could've… but I didn't. I wanted too, so badly. But scarlet… I didn't think it was right."

I looked up at her, shocked. "What do you mean it wasn't right?"

"I mean… Scarlet if I turned him, he could've killed you. And he was so weak… I doubted that his heart would stay beating long enough to get the venom through his blood system. And, how do you explain how he goes missing? I mean, have you ever heard of somebody abducting a teenager from a hospital when he's about to die?"

"oh… I would've been careful. I'm not stupid. And he heart probably would've been able to get the venom through; you just had to bite him early enough."

"But how would you explain how he went missing? Scarlet, given the predicament, it wasn't possible. He was hooked up to all sorts of machines and monitors and if I had unhook a single one, a signal would've gone through to the nurses station. And he would've been in a lot of pain. How do you explain a screaming teenager without a pulse?"

"Okay! I get the point. It still sucks, though."

"Life sucks. That's why you should always make the best of it."

"I know…" I sighed.

I still didn't get why he couldn't have lived. He was my best friend… maybe that was why; things had been so weird between us. I still had no clue who I liked better. Samuel had known everything about me… but Ethan was so different. A mystery of sorts, waiting patiently for me to solve.

I groaned. Today was definitely not the day to make that choice.

**I am sooooooooooooooooo getting flamed for this. Just don't threaten to stop reading and I would be very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very happy. You guys can be too nice though not that that's a bad thing but still… ,maybe a flame is just what I need to sorta umm I don't know. I guess to just mess up my head. Wow did I say very enough? I think so…. Ummm let's see this chapter twenty four and two plus four equals six and then you add one to make… seven! Ewww seven's my unlucky number. Umm… so if you guys submit seven or preferably more reviews, I'll update tomorrow. to get your update tomorrow, you guys have to submit seven reviews. if not... well you all won't get the next chapter until friday. fair enough? **

**Okay guys, I'm hungry. Time for lunch!**


	25. Chapter 25

Hey guys

**Hey guys. I don't think this will be the last chapter… it shouldn't be. I'm still thinking on it. I don't know if I should make this one long fic, or just break it up into a fic and a sequel… I don't know you guys can tell me what you want me to do. I'd prefer one long fic but other than that it doesn't matter. Just tell me what you guys want me to do, and I'll do it.**

**Ummm… that's about it… school starts pretty soon. Writing time's going to become extremely restricted. I'll try to update as much as possible this weekend to make up for it.**

Chapter Twenty Five

I was released the next day. (Finally.) I had gotten so bored in the hospital. Aside from seeing Sam, there hadn't been anything else to do. I wanted to go home, too.

My nightmares started coming back after that. Most were really vivid, while some just seemed sort of like I wasn't there. I didn't have another dream like the one I had about Ethan, though.

One night, I woke up after a really creepy one that really freaked me out. I blinked a couple to times to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

I jumped slightly when I saw Jasper sitting quietly in the corner, watching me intently.

"Another nightmare?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No, not really," I attempted a grin. "Honestly, you worry too much about. I swear I'm fine."

"I have my reasons," he growled.

"I know."

"Can you at least tell me who it was about?"

"The usual… Sam, Morgan, Renée…" I hissed the last two names. I would never get used to saying them.

"Were the trying to kill you again?"

"Yeah. _Again_." I sighed. "I am so sick of this. I hate these nightmares. I hate having them. I hate watching people try to kill me. I hate watching Sam die over and over again. It is so _annoying_."

"I know."

"I'm sick of this brace, too. It's so bulky." I didn't know why I was complaining. It just felt good.

"Is there anything positive you can say?"

"Nope. I'm just plain sick of being human."

"_That _much, is obvious."

"Then change me."

"Scarlet…" he warned me.

"What? I am so sick of this! I hate everything about being human. Everything! The nightmares, the injuries, the… everything." I wasn't going to tell him about the numbness that had settled in me since Sam's death. I needed something to break me out of that. I needed a real challenge….

"I get that. What I meant was… Scarlet, I could kill you."

"I highly doubt you would."

"_You_ would. But Scarlet… even if I can resist human blood now better than I ever have been able to before… biting you, and actually tasting your blood… I wouldn't be able to resist. I _would_ kill you. I still struggle to resist my instincts. It's still extremely hard for me." He paused. "You'd actually want to be stuck as a fifteen year old forever?"

"Whatever turns me into a vampire faster… unless you'd rather I go jump off a cliff and nearly commit suicide so you'd be forced to turn me."

"That one's not going to happen." He laughed dryly. "Esme actually did that. That's how Carlisle found her."

"Wow."

"But back to the point. I'm not biting you. You're staying human. You have no need to become one of us. You have a whole life ahead of you. A real future. None of us have that. We spend an eternity with our loved ones, and that's about it. For most, it's enough… but the price we have to pay… killing humans or animals to live…."

"I'll ask Alice. She'll do it."

"She probably would. But would you rather be in horrible pain for three days? I mean it feels like you're on fire…." He was still trying to change my mind.

"Let's see… horrible pain for three days, and the result is me staying a teenager forever? No nightmares? No injuries? I think I'll take that."

"You're insane, you know that?"

"I may be insane, but if you were me you'd understand my reasons perfectly."

"Mhmm I bet I would,' Jasper rolled his eyes sarcastically. "I'm still not going to do it. Either ask Alice or Carlisle. I would just kill you and you aren't going to die that way."

"All right I will." I glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand. "As soon as I go back o sleep and wake up again. It's too early for any normal human to be awake."

"I thought so."

I rolled my eyes. "You can be _so _annoying sometimes, you know that?"

Jasper nodded. "That means I'm doing everything right."

"Whatever." I fell back asleep pretty quickly after that.

I woke up hours later. Rain was pelting the windows, freezing as soon as it hit.

I wanted to curl up deeper under the covers and go back to sleep, but then I remembered the conversation Jasper and I had had the night before. I shoved the comforter back and went downstairs.

Emmett was the only one downstairs, and he was quiet, watching the highlights of some sport or another. I went into the kitchen and found a box of cereal and a bowl.

I sat at the table, slowly eating my food, when Alice came in and sat down across from me.

I continued eating, unbothered by it.

"Jasper told me you wanted to become a vampire," she started off slowly. I nodded.

"Yup."

"All I want to know is why."

"I thought that was pretty obvious… my whole family are vampires… why not me?" I asked. There was more to it. I would wait until she asked more, though.

"You'd want to stay forever at fifteen?"

"Yup."

"You wouldn't want to learn how to drive?"

"I feel American's dependence on cars and oil is insane," I replied.

She cracked a small smile.

"There more to it than what you're telling me," she guessed.

"I am completely sick of being human."

"Why?"

"What with everything that's happened and all… think it would be better if I was one of you."

"Mmm…" we were silent, aside form the sound of the television in the other room.

"I can do it… but I would rather if you asked Carlisle…" Alice stared down at the table.

I was surprised. "You actually want me to become one of you?"

She nodded. "It would take a long time for me to prepare myself for something like that… Carlisle could be ready to do it by tomorrow morning… and the sooner the better so we can get you enrolled in school once your eyes change color and you can gain control over your thirst."

"Where's Carlisle?" I asked.

"He's at work at the moment. He should be home before six."

"How come you all don't go to school?"

Alice flashed me a full smile. "We did sort of just move here. Like… three months before you ran away. Carlisle decided to give us an extra year off before we were stuck back in high school… you might have to repeat the ninth grade… but aside from that, you ought to be fine."

"I guess I could repeat… I don't have to like it, but I can. _Renée _used to tell me you all lived in Alaska all the time. What do you mean you just moved here?"

"We spent some time with the Denali coven. And then we spent some more time farther north, more in Canada… every time Renée called, though, Bella always told her we were in Juneau. I guess that's where you got the idea from."

"Ah, I get it now."

I finished my cereal, and spent the remainder of the day reading one of the books I'd gotten from the Cullens.

I heard the door open downstairs around six thirty. I could smell Esme's cooking downstairs.

I waited until after dinner, trying to figure out how I was going to ask him. You don't just go up to a nearly four hundred year old vampire and ask him to turn you in to one of them. That's would be just a little bit weird.

Finally, I climbed the stairs to Carlisle's study. The door was open. I could see he was on the computer, typing a letter of sorts.

I knocked softly. He turned around

"Hello Scarlet," he smiled pleasantly. "What can I do for you?"

I barely glanced at the pictures on the walls. Jasper had already told me Carlisle's story. Alice had told me hers, too. I never bothered to ask Jasper's. I had a feeling I didn't want to know.

"Umm…," where to begin? "I assume Alice has already told you I want to become one of you, right?"

Carlisle nodded. "You want to know if I can do it for you."

I nodded.

"I can do it, if it's what you truly want. Just tell me when the best time to do it is… I can do it whenever…"

"It is."

"When would you like me to do it, then?"

"Umm… this weekend?"

Carlisle nodded. "I can do that."

I met his butterscotch eyes.

"You'd really do it?"

He nodded. "I believe you belong here as much as everybody else."

"Thanks," I turned and left.

I couldn't believe it. I was going to become a vampire in three days. Only three more nights of nightmares. Only three more days.

Then it hit me.

_I only had three more days of being human._

**Yay! I got this up! I'm happy. What do you guys think of Scarlet becoming a vampire? I know a lot of you guys probably hate me for killing Samuel. I know, I know. At least I didn't get flamed too bad. Thanks, guys. Umm… like I said before hand, do you guys want me to make this one long fic? Or break it up into a sequel? Despite my preferences, I'll do what you guys want me to do. Review or leave me a PM, to let me know what you want me to do. Remember, I accept anonymous reviews, so even if you don't hav an account, you can still voice your opinion.**

**Umm… Ethan come back in two chapters… or in the sequel. It still depends on what you guys want me to do.**

**Let's see.. this is chapter twenty five… two plus five is seven… plus one is eight. Eight reviews guys! Are you all up to it? I really want to know what you guys think.**

**Eight reviews by noon tomorrow, and I'll update before one o' clock my time. Promise! **


	26. Chapter 26

Hey guys

**Hey guys. I am sooo tired I stayed up really late the other night reading through the chapter of midnight sun stephenie meyer had on her website. Can you believe someone actually posted it on the internet, and now she might not continue it? I will like, die, because honestly, from the part I've read, I think it's excellent, and that she really should continue it. But I can see why she's so upset. If anyone took one of my novels-in-the-making and posted it on the internet I would be totally crushed….**

**Yeah… the whole human-vampire thing in this chapter I got from breaking dawn. I swear, I didn't copy it word for word. But… it's thanks to breaking dawn (as much as I didn't like it) that I got the idea of how to do this. The Jacob part did rock though….**

**Ummmm….. sooooooooo here's the next chapter. I can't think of anything else to say, really… ummm…. Oh this chapter is for my awesome editor, Victoria. She gave me like four emails of awesome ideas and advice, about half of which are going into this. And to all the people who reviewed. Thanks guys!**

Chapter Twenty Six

The three days until the weekend passed unbearably fast. Before I knew it, it was Friday night, and Carlisle had just gotten home from the hospital.

I was sitting on the floor in the living room. I was frightened. Jasper had told me about the transformation, as he called it. He said it was painful. Extremely painful. He said it feels like you're burning, like every nerve was set on fire.

As much as I figured it was true… I didn't want to believe him.

"Scarlet…" Carlisle began slowly. "Are you still sure you want me to do this?"

I nodded.

Carlisle sighed heavily. "Okay then…."

I didn't want to think how much it was probably hurting him as he leaned forward and bit my palm. I didn't want to think about how adverse he was to stealing my future from me. I didn't care, though. My future was with them.

Jasper wasn't kidding. The pain was terrible. Horrifying. Worse than any nightmare, or abuse. I felt like screaming, but couldn't find my voice.

If someone were to ask me how long I suffered this torment, I would never be able to tell them. I had no idea how long I was put through this fire but when it finally started to fade, I couldn't help but be relieved. It was almost over.

It continued to fade, freeing me slowly. Finally, the pain faded enough that I could concentrate dimly on my surroundings, my concentration growing with every centimeter the fire lost.

I could hear their weight shifting, hear every word they whispered. It was strange. I wasn't used to it. I was sure it would become normal soon enough.

The fire continued to fade, dully ever so slightly in the process. After a while longer, the fire was no longer in my nerves, but in the back of my throat.

I was thirsty.

I was a vas a vampire now.

I blinked my eyes open. I hadn't realized I was still sitting on the floor, my arms wrapped around my knees.

I blinked my eyes open, and immediately closed them again. The clarity I took everything in with was insane. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust.

I opened my eyes again. Alice, Carlisle and Jasper were all sitting in various places around the room. Carlisle was the first to notice that I was one of them now.

"Scarlet?" he asked quietly. His voice rang out with perfectly clarity.

I looked at him.

"Where is everyone?" my voice was all wrong. It sounded like bells. Just like Alice's and Bella's voices.

"They're all off hunting."

"Oh."

"They're waiting for us, actually. Emmett can't wait to give you a taste of a grizzly bear." Carlisle smile, the light reflecting off his perfect teeth.

I paused a minute before responding, taking a moment to absorb how much more perfect they looked now that I was one of them, then they had when I was human. They looked ten times better now that I could actually see every bit of perfection on their angelic faces.

"Right," I stood up.

I followed Jasper and Alice out to the backyard. I could here the stream trickling nearby. The snow was soft underfoot. It must've snowed recently.

I inhaled deeply, taking in the scents of everything around me. The stream, the trees, even the snow had it's own scent.

Jasper smiled at me, and took off running. Alice and Carlisle followed suit. I took off barely a second after them, catching up quickly.

I slowed when they did, taking in the scents of the clearing where the other vampires were eating. The scent of the blood was disgusting, and yet the burning in my throat intensified tenfold.

I concentrated harder. Aside from the scents of the vampires around me, I could also smell an animal, a deer, not twenty feet away. I was sure the others could smell it too. The scent of it had venom flowing into my mouth.

I felt my body slump forward into a crouch. I slinked forward, stalking the deer that dared to come closer to Emmett.

I leapt, landing squarely on its back, my weight breaking its spine. I snapped its neck, biting deep, allowing the blood to seep into my mouth.

I finish off the deer. The blood satisfied the burning a little bit. Not much, though.

When I straightened up, every other vampire in the clearing was staring at me.

"What?" I asked in that odd, bell like voice. "Did I do something wrong?"

Carlisle shook his head. "No… you did something _right_. You just sort of naturally took to hunting like that."

"I've never seen a newborn do that before. They normally have to have someone show them how to do it." Jasper looked extremely surprised.

I bit my lip.

"It's almost like… she was meant to be a vampire all along," Alice whispered.

True, it did feel good to have so much strength and speed, but that would fade past the year mark. As would the desperate thirst.

We continued hunting, Emmett showing off by killing two grizzlies in a single swipe. I rolled my eyes when showed off and lifted them both off the ground.

I leapt on a grizzly when Emmett was full, killing it before it even saw me. I slowly drained it of its blood.

I could see why Emmett liked it so much. It tasted _good_.

It numbed the thirst at the back of my throat. Just as a precaution, I finished off a doe before we started to head back to Juneau. We were a long way away. About fifty seven miles.

We walked slowly, the Cullens playing around and having fun with one another. I ambled slowly behind, taking in the clarity of every thing around me, the way the leaves rustled just barely from tiny animals scurrying across, the way the snow glittered in the dim lighting of an Alaskan winter.

It started snowing when we were exactly forty three miles from home. I had no ideas how my vampire brain could figure it out, but I knew it was correct.

I could see every little detail to every snowflake that fell in front of my face. The snow that hit my ice cold skin stayed there, not melting.

Alice dropped back until we were matched stride for stride.

"You like it?" she asked, smiling at me,

I nodded. "Everything is so much… better now. Like I was seeing through a fog, and now it's lifted. I love it. I'm glad I was turned."

"Just be glad you didn't meet any humans." Alice laughed dryly.

At my confused look, she continued. "Bella did. Everyone thought she was going to kill them, but Edward frightened her and she ran away."

"I heard that Alice!" Bella laughed.

"How? Isn't that like, really hard for a newborn?"

"Exactly! She was completely abnormal."

"Alice," I spoke seriously. "Don't take me near any humans for a year, you here me? I don't want to become a murderer."

"You want to be completely quarantined from humans until this time next year? But what if you have the same control Bella had and you're completely fine by the start of the school year? I'd hate for you to miss out on your education."

"Alice, it's a repeat of the ninth grade. I think I'll live."

"Still… I think you should work on your control a whole lot this summer, and then you'd be ready to go to school by next fall. Sven months, plus the fact that you can't sleep, so if you want to go by human standards, that's two months more than a year," her logic was odd, but understandable. She was counting human days, and when you can't sleep, the days seemed to double in length.

I nodded. "I promise I'll work on it, but I can't guarantee anything."

"Jasper will help you. He has plenty of experience with newborns," Alice danced around a little bit, enjoying the fresh so fall.

The snow was coming down so thickly now, that even though I knew exactly where my footprints were in the snow, they were almost covered. No one would be able to track us from the clearing to our home, that's for sure.

I looked at her when she mentioned Jasper having experience with newborns. I stared ahead at Jasper. He had crescent moon shaped scars all over the visible parts of his neck and the side of his face that I could see.

"Jasper…" I spoke slowly. "What _happened_ to you?"

I was amazed that I hadn't bothered to ask this earlier. The scars had been hard to see when I was a human; they blended so well with his pale skin, but now I could see that they dominated his features. They crisscrossed in delicate patterns and shapes. No matter how long I stared at them, I couldn't tell where one ended and the next began.

"I was bitten, maybe even thousands of times, by newborn ten times as uncontrollable as the normal newborn," he gave me a grim story and launched into a story told with perfect detail. The way he described it made a movie of sorts play behind my eyes.

He talked until we were twenty miles from home. Edward, Emmett, and Bella had run ahead to race one another.

Carlisle and Esme were deep into a conversation I completely ignored. I was too hung up on Jasper's story. A solider in the confederate army! I never would have expected it, never would have guessed….

Up ahead, the laughing and catcalls stopped. Carlisle and Esme shot one another looks and sprinted full speed towards the others. Rosalie followed them.

I hung back, with Alice and Jasper. Surely if it was humans the six of them could sort it out?

We continued at the same place, all pretending to be unconcerned.

I stopped dead about a mile from the others. My newborn senses were strong, and the scent I smelled was pungent and disgusting. Even though I was certain I'd never before smelled anything so repulsive, my vampire brain registered it immediately.

_Werewolves._

**Dun dun duuun, okay, don't shoot me! I swear it's not Jake's pack, no matter how awesome Jake was in Breaking Dawn. It's the next generation. But I won't spoil the next chapter for you. I KNOW this one was really short. I don't think it broke two thousand words. I was hard pressed today to type and working through some problems on one of my other books. I'm good now. Tired, and annoyed, but good. Seriously, who wouldn't be annoyed when they're outside in the heat with their hair down to the middle of their back in the most summery clothes they own? Well… okay maybe only me…. But I was experimenting,. It was all for science. **

**Umm…. Based on the past three chapters, I probably won't get my wish but… this is chapter twenty six, and we all know two plus six is eight. Add one and you get nine… again, serious wishful thinking on my part, but if you guys submit nine reviews OR PMs, I will update tomorrow. guys, nine reviews mean this story review count will have finally hit 100! If you don't want other people to read what you think, PM me. I'll count those, too. I know you guys are probably still **_**really**_** mad at me for killing Sam. I am really sorry, but it did have to happen eventually….**

**Okay guys, I'm going to go and try to braid my hair before my mom attacks me with her camera. I think this is the first time I've willingly had my hair down all summer… Remember, nine reviews or PMs and I',ll update tomorrow!**


	27. Chapter 27

Hey guys

**Hey guys. God, okay. I have ONE day until I'm stuck back in school. I hate my school. And it hates me, apparently. I swear, I won't know anybody on my team, or anyting. Okay, I'm really depressed. Here's the next chapter. It's for my editor Vicky. She helped me come up with more than half of the plot, it was just my job to put it into words. Thank god for email. Without it, I would've committed suicide.**

Chapter Twenty Seven

There were three. A gray colored one flocked by two slightly smaller ones. A gold and a white.

My eyes lingered on the gold one. His deep, sapphire blue eyes were familiar. A hazy, human memory hit me.

I knew those eyes. And I knew that wolf.

"Ethan," the word came out so softly, it was like a breath of air.

I had never taken the time to notice anything else about his face. I was always drawn to his eyes. Now, as I thought back, I remembered the how his skin tone was several shades darker than mine, a mixture of russet brown and pale white. His hair had been black, curling slightly down the back of his neck.

Ethan stared at me, a look of sheer horror flitted through his eyes. He looked almost… heartbroken.

Jasper had once told me that vampires and werewolves were mortal enemies. But he had also told me that the werewolves were only in La Push. And these were all _young _werewolves. Ethan was the oldest. And the biggest.

I tried to stop breathing, but it was just so uncomfortable. Underneath the repulsive scent, I smelled something… good. Like rain and honey.

Ethan's large blue eyes never left mine. After he let out a yelp, he darted away. Carlisle looked to Edward.

"He's going to phase," he explained. "So he can tell us why they're so far from Las Push. He obviously hasn't heard that I can read his thoughts," he added sarcastically.

Ethan darted back a minute later, wearing only a pair of jeans avoiding my eyes. He stared at Carlisle instead.

Carlisle knew I recognized him. He'd also heard when I'd said his name.

"Etjan," he greeted the werewolf. "Why are you all so far from La Push?"

"We were chasing a couple bloodsuckers that had settled a little bit north of Forks. They were killing everyone from La Push to Seattle. We ran them up here. We had no idea you all would be here." He talked quickly.

I was confused. Bella had told me it took a long time for the werewolf to actually phase. Normally they would be very angry or upset when….

That was just it. His mom had just died, and….

I didn't know enough to know how he could be a werewolf so soon. I'd have to make him explain to me later.

"These vampires… were they anything like us?" Carlisle asked.

Ethan shook his head. "Nope. They hunted on humans. Even crossed over into La Push three or four times. We killed one of them. It was the best we could do to chase the others as far as we could. I don't think they should be coming back."

Carlisle nodded.

Ethan turned; about to run away and turn back into a wolf so he and his pack could leave. They didn't want to stay too long with the vampires, obviously.

As he turned, he tried to avoid catching my eye, but somehow slipped up. He stopped dead staring at me.

I couldn't take my eyes off those perfect sapphire pools. It was like no one else on the entire planet existed but him. Like my family wasn't standing right next to me. Like his pack-mates weren't staring at him, trying to convey to him that it was time to leave.

It was as though for the briefest moment, only he existed. And as much as I longed for the moment to be longer, it ended too quickly.

He never moved his eyes from mine, a small smile breaking out on his face.

"Scarlet," he whispered, ever so softly.

I groaned. I couldn't believe what he had just done. Another story Jasper had told me came true. He'd just imprinted on me.

As much as I wanted to hate him for it- as much as my instincts said hate him, period- I couldn't. I just couldn't.

"You owe me," I hissed.

He nodded. "I know, I know, I owe you an explanation."

I nodded.

He hissed something to the wolves, so low even vampire hearing couldn't pick it up. They stared at him for a minute, and then bounded away.

"Jasper, Alice, I'm going for a walk. Don't you dare bother to follow me. I'll be fine." I hissed.

I turned and walked away from them. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see Ethan following me. I could also see the look Jasper gave him. He looked ready to kill.

I walked a longs way away from the Cullens. To the point where I knew they wouldn't be able to here us. Ethan followed like a love sick puppy.

How ironic. That's exactly what he was.

I stopped dead and turned to face him. "Why?"

He shrugged. "I could ask the same thing of you."

"Tell me." I tried to stop breathing. The werewolf scent wasn't as strong on him. He smelled more like rain mixed with honey.

"I'd been hanging out around the vampires for too long, I guess."

"No, seriously. There aren't any werewolves in Juneau. Only La Push."

"It's a long story."

"I've got an eternity of time to waste."

"Fine, I'll tell you." He stared down at me, his sapphire eyes meeting mine.

"I'd been born half werewolf. My mom was the only female in the La Push pack almost seventeen years ago. She… she never imprinted on any one… she and my dad got married a few months after their engagement. My mom… thought she knew what she was doing. She'd stopped phasing, and while I was growing up, took classes at a community college.

"But she and my dad had a lot of issues. Not my mom so much as my dad. He was… violent most of the time. Stuck in a depression he couldn't get out of, even bipolar at times, happy and cheerful one second, and angry or unsatisfied the next. Her left when I was eleven. Said he couldn't stand it anymore. Any of it. When my mom got sick a year or so ago... we were visiting friends in Whitehorse. They took her to the hospital there. But the friends… didn't have enough room in the house for my sister and me, so we were sent down to La Push to stay with some of the old pack members until she got better.

"My sister… didn't like La Push much. She became depressed as my father had. But she had a different way of contenting herself. She would slice her wrists open at night. I didn't know she did until… she went too far one time.

"I think that's what set me off. My mom had just died, and now she'd killed herself. I was completely alone in this world. I ran. As I ran… I don't know, I was shaking so hard… and then… I was a wolf and there were voices in my head and… the other three knew. They all knew about Sadi's death. They all knew I wanted to be left alone. They didn't bother me for a few days.

"But I had to come back. Become human again. I met with the pack in human forms. Our leader… is hardly older than me. The other two… they're barely twelve." He stopped there.

"Wow, that was a long a story. But… werewolves only exist when there are vampires around. The Cullens don't live in Forks any more." I pointed out.

"A new coven's moved in. there was five of 'em, four now. Like I'd said, they hunted everywhere from Seattle to Forks. They even had the nerve to hunt on La Push! But we were all young, and had serious trouble catching them. None of us had been like this for longer than six months. We barely know what to do. It wasn't like before- there were so many wolves, and they all knew what to do by the time a new wolf phased. I think there were sixteen by the end of the last pack's reign."

"They hunted humans?"

Ethan nodded. "Yup. We'd almost caught them a couple of times, but they always managed to slip away. We finally chased them away today. I almost got bit though. Rudy flipped out and completely ripped the leech to shreds. He stayed back and burned it. He told us to go on ahead.

"Rudy's one of the younger wolves?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah."

I stayed quiet a minute.

"Why did you become a vampire?" Ethan asked hostilely a minute later.

"Because, my whole family is vampires, and I was sick of being the only human there. Plus a ton of nightmares and other past events in my life resulted in concluding that being a vampire would be better."

"But your eyes… they're creepy." He shuddered. "I liked them better when they were blue."

"It'll fade in a few months. They'll be ocher before I turn a year."

He nodded, staring off into the woods.

"What else happened in your life?" he asked quietly.

I stared at him. I didn't want to tell him, but it felt good to. Right. I told him everything. When I was done, he looked… pissed off.

"Soemone would do that to you?" he hissed, his eyes darkening dangerously.

"Yeah. But don't kill yourself. It happens all the time. I just had to be one of the kids."

"Alcohol, you said?"

"A mixture of alcohol, abandonment, and pure hatred."

He nodded solemnly.

"That sucks."

I nodded.

I stared at the snow. It melted around him. I could feel the heat his body was giving off. It turned into ice the second it hit the ground, though.

"Umm…" I paused. "We'd better be getting back. I bet your back is wondering where your at. And… I'm sure the Cullens want to be getting home. Emmett hates being without a television whenever there's a game on."

He nodded. We started walking back the way we came.

"I have to go back to La Push, though. I'd hate to be away from you but…"

"Now that the vampires are gone, couldn't you leave the pack? We don't intend to go back to Forks any time soon. You'd always be welcome with us, of course." I offered.

"As much as I want to… I can't. I have to be in La Push. I don't think I can stand to be in Juneau any more. Or Whitehorse. I'm surprised I didn't offer to stay behind and burn the leech for Sean. I wouldn't have had to come here."

I nodded.

"Okay… but anytime you want to come here, you can. I don't think I'll be able to go near La Push. Your werewolf scent makes it harder for me to attack you but and normal humans…."

He nodded. "I know. You'd go on a rampage."

I nodded.

We'd come into view of the others. The other two werewolves were back, pacing nervously back and forth. Rosalie stared disdainfully at them.

Ethan ran off into the woods, returning in his golden werewolf form. He stared at me with those sapphire eyes, yelped once before licking my hand, and darted away with his pack.

**ARGH!! Odn't you kill me! I won't be able to finish this if you do! Just calmly tell me what you thought about Ethan imprinting on Scarlet… and the fact that Ethan is Leah Clearwater's son… runs and hides behind Jasper just in case you all do try to kill me….**

**I was ONE away from one hundred reviews for this story, so I'm not going to be greedy this time. I want just one reviews form one new person. I would love it if every one reviewed, but one reviews from one new person, and I promise to update before the end of the week. otherwise... if you feel like you absolutely have to review... this chapter's quota was ten. wanna break ten reviews for this chapter? if you do, i'll update on thursay. I can't make any good promises with school and all, but you'll get a new chapter before Friday, promise!**


	28. Chapter 28

Okay

**Okay. I lied. I didn't update Thursday. I was reeaaaaaaaaaaallly stressed out what with all my freaking ALGEBRA homework!! Why did I agree to take a high school level honors class? Why? Anyway, it's raining reaaaaaaaaallly hard and I felt like writing…. My editor had a immature moment yesterday on the bus. She actually quoted **_**Emmett Clause**_**…I swear to god, the things I give her to quote. Right now, I wish I never typed that… anyway, yeah, she basically dictated me into writing this chapter over email. I swear…. Not fun. I don't have a lot of time tyo type this, so if it's not very long, don't kill me. I have to get ahead on my Algebra homework for the week…. Or else I won't be able to do it until like eleven o' clock at night and thus failing Algebra…. I hate it sooooooo much…. Okay, yeah you can tell I'm really annoyed.**

Chapter Twenty Eight

A week later, I was hunting alone in the woods when I caught scent of something familiar. Rain and honey, nearly completely obscured by a wet dog scent. I crinkled my nose, though my heart soared.

Ethan was near.

He strode out of the woods, hair plastered to his face in the rain.

He had me wrapped up in his arms in an instant. His skin my fire against mine. If it was as hard as stone, and impenetrable, I would've been burned.

I pulled away after a moment. "Ethan… why are you here? Aren't you needed in La Push?"

Ethan shook his head. "There aren't any more vampires. Our pack… has basically gone back to their own lives. I'm the only one who still phases and everything. I swear no car is fast enough anymore."

I rolled my eyes. "Why is everyone so obsessed with going fast?"

"If I took a car, I wouldn't have been here for another day and a half."

"Point taken."

We stood there for a while. I stared off into the snow, watching as each icy droplet of rain hit and froze on it.

"I couldn't stay in La Push any longer," he stated suddenly. "It wasn't my home."

I nodded.

"Alaska is where I was born. It's my home. I just… as much as I didn't want to come back here… as much as I didn't want to resurface the memories… I can't stay away." He continued.

I nodded again.

"Not to mention the fact that _you're _here. It just… makes me want to come home even more."

I sighed. "I've missed you this past week," I whispered. "I didn't know what I was going to do. I couldn't sleep, and even if I could, I would've dreamed about you… or had nightmares." I shivered. My human memories were blurry and unclear, but every memory I had of unpleasantries rang as clear as if I had just seen it happen.

"I'm here now," he offered lamely.

"I know… but seeing you… every so often… it's honestly not enough."

"I know." It was his turn to sigh. "I just wish there was some way for me to stay in Juneau… no one would ever sell me a house, and all my family's in La Push."

"I'd offer to let you stay with me but… you know… only Carlisle and Esme would enjoy have a werewolf around."

"True."

I was silent. I didn't dare meet his eyes. I stared into the trees as the rain started to come down heavier.

"Let's run away," Ethan suggested, so quietly I barely heard him.

"Run… away? _Why_?"

"I don't know… I didn't think… I just… never mind."

"No… it's a good idea… I just don't think I'd be able to leave my family."

"Oh… I see."

"I mean, don't get me wrong! I want to. I really, really want to," I spoke in a rush. "Just… it would be hard to leave. Japer and Alice are my parents… they'd be heartbroken if I did. And Bella… she and I just started to get along better. And Emmett… is one hell of an uncle. I just don't think I want to give all that up."

I see…. Want me to just hang out in the woods? You can come find me whenever you want."

"What? No! You don't have to stay out here. You'd be buried before nine o' clock tonight. Just… give me one minute to think about this."

"TRhe snow would just turn to rain around me, but I guess I see where you're coming from…."

"Ethan, do me a favor and shut up a minute."

I didn't want to leave behind Juneau but… standing here right now with Ethan felt right. I could feel the heat radiating from his body. As long as he wasn't touching me, it felt good. And I could still stay in touch with them… calling, text messaging, and email. There was plenty of ways. Hell, for all I knew, they'd probably find me one day. The world was a small place when you didn't have a lot of choice between places where a vampire could go out during the day time without being caught.

And I knew I didn't want to be without Ethan… the past week had been torture. I wasn't able to sit still long enough to think about anything else. With him here right now… I immediately felt less antsy. Surely it was the better of the two ideas, to leave with him?

"I'll go with you," I mumbled after a moment. "But there are conditions."

He groaned. "Such as?"

"I'm not leaving this continent, for one thing. Not all vampires create bonds based on friendships like we can. I don't really know how many… sadistic one are actually out there. Another thing, I can't be too close to humans for another year. I don't know what my reaction would be, and I don't trust myself enough to try it."

"You really think I'd ever let a sadistic vampire come near you? And I'm not letting you anywhere near a human, even if we have to go the most remote place on the very tip of Canada. And why don't you want to leave the continent, exactly? Aside from the sadists, I mean."

"Umm… no reason other than that, really. I think you would cause the northern polar ice cap to melt if we went that far north. I don't think that there would be anything to worry about. Aside from the merican nomads, of course, there really isn't any reason why we have to stay in Northern Canada."

"How about this then. I take you on a private tour of the world, visit every country possible, and I don't let you any where near a single human. I don't care if I take you on this tour at night." Ethan reached out and took my hand in his.

"You really want to be as far away from La Push as possible, don't you?" I asked, laughing.

"If you met my family, you'd do the same. Especially all the cousins. I swear, I don't know how anyone could live like that."

"Whatever. That sounds… good, actually. I've only left the States once, and that was to go to London for boarding school. I hardly count that."

"Let's go then!" Ethan ran away, darting back half a minute later as a wolf.

He bounded through the trees, leaving huge paw prints behind. I took off after him.

Ethan gave me a taunting look before taking off into the trees around the clearing. I chased after him, catching him in less then a second. There wasn't as much snow here in New York, but at least there weren't as many people out, either. Especially not in the middle of the woods.

We'd been careful not to go anywhere near humans. I still didn't trust myself, though I had caught a human scent once or twice. I never lost it though. Ethan would just growl; at me and things would go back to normal.

It'd been two weeks since we'd left Alaska. Probably the best two weeks of my life. We'd mostly goofed off and ran around, trying to out do one another. I was surprised that we actually made it from one end of the continent to the other, the way we kept acting. I knew I'd spent too much time around Emmett.

Ethan ran off, coming back a minute later in his human form with only a pair of loose jeans on.

He'd gotten taller, too. He was nearly six and a half feet tall, now.

"I'm tired. I'm going to crash. Wake me in a couple of hours," he yawned, and collapsed on the snow covered ground.

I rolled my eyes before laughing. Only Ethan would push himself to the point where he's gone before he even finishes a sentence.

I sat down in the snow and started to draw pictures with my finger. First I drew a crappy picture of a forest, then a house, and then a dog…

After a while, I sprawled back across the snow. I imagined how many emails and texts I probably had. I didn't bother to count. Knowing Jasper and Alice, they'd probably have sent me more than a thousand.

But… had Alice seen me leave? Or had my future vanished, as she once said it did, when you entangle your fate with the werewolves? But even if it had… wouldn't she have guessed where I went? Who I was with?

Once or twice I thought I heard someone calling my name, but it was so faint it was hard to tell if it was just my imagination, or if someone actually was calling my name.

I was so lost in my thoughts and memories; I didn't notice it when I smelled something strange. I bolted upright.

It wasn't a human scent. It smelled like a vampire… just not like any vampire I'd ever met before.

I reached over a shook Ethan awake.

"Ethan… go wolf and tell me what you smell."

He stared at me bleary eyed, but got up and ran behind a tree to phase. He came back, tail straight up ion the air, nose pointed to the skye.

"Vampire, right?"

He nodded. Confusion crossed his eyes. He looked like he was asking me whether I knew the scent or not.

"No… I don't think s-," I stopped. A memory hit me. It was form when Alice had told me about the coven of royal vampires who lived in Italy and only left their palace when some psychotic vampire or another started disrupting the order. . She'd described everything to me, their diet, their numbers, their scent….

"Ethan," I whispered, trying not to let an edge of panic seep into my voice. "Th-tho-those vampires…. I think I know who they are."

Ethan looked up at me, asking with his eyes, _who_?

The scent became stronger as the vampires got closer.

"Alice told me once… they're the Volturi."

**Okay, now you all are sooooooooo going to kill me. I don't think I said this earlier, but I didn't come up with the idea for this chapter. I was really stressed and had a lot of trouble coming up with ideas, so I had my awesome friend Victoria help me out. I owe her big time for this. Seriously, I do. She puts up with me when I'm extremely ornery because of my killer migraines and everything else I complain about. I couldn't ask for a better editor.**

**Let's see, this was a short chapter… but I've never gotten more than nine reviews for a chapter before… and since two plus eight equals ten as everybody knows… how about ten reviews, and I'll find time this week to update before next Sunday. You all might just get the chapter Thursday or Friday, but I won't update unless I get ten reviews. So…. don't forget to go to my profile and vote on my poll! it might not be until next summer when i get it done but... it should get done. If you have a aspecific chapter you want me to type up from another character's perspective, PM or review to me and I'll add it as a one shot.  
**

**Okay guys, I hope you liked it. Now I really want to go get all my homework done before the Samurai Girl marathon comes on at four! Omg I am soooooooo excited. I can't believe she had to decide between whom to cut loose…. I hope it wasn't Jake. He was too freaking hot to die….**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hey guys. I know, I know. It took me like, three months to write this. Would you believe me if I said swim practice, algebra homework, and just school in general stopped me from being able to come up with this chapter? The only good thing about practice is that it gave me a lot of inspiration for my other fic.**

**Okay, I'm going to shut up now so you can read. You guys have waited long enough.**

Chapter Twenty Nine

Why the freaking _hell_ was the Volturi standing in the woods, not fifty feet away from me, coming closer every second?

But then I caught scent of something else… another vampire's scent. Then I got the point. The Volturi were hunting this other vampire, chasing him right to this clearing.

I ran behind a tree, and Ethan followed. I groaned when I saw the footprint left in the snow. I couldn't help but pray that the Volturi wouldn't notice.

A moment later, they ran through the trees, and the lead vampire stopped. There were four of them, coming from each side, cornering the rogue vampire. Each of them were wearing gray cloaks. I could see the shortest one's face. She had an intense look of concentration, but also contentment, and even glee, in her smile.

That was Jane. I knew it. After all the stories Alice and Jasper had told me, I knew who she was. I knew she could cause intense pain, and Alec, was like the antidote to the pain. He cut off all the senses.

I could only imagine the living hell the vampire was going through. As the other three made a grab for him, I turned away. I didn't need to see them dismember the guy. Ethan watched me, and licked the back of my hand. I reached out and scratched him behind his ears.

I slid to the ground, and wrapped my arms around my legs. I leaned my head back against the tree trunk, and let my eyes slide shut. I could still hear the sounds, like sharp nails against a chalkboard, of the Volturi tearing the disobedient vampire apart.

I smelled the smoke from the fire they were building. In the distance I heard the crunching of snow as footfalls hit it at an inhuman pace.

My eyes flew open. More were coming. I knew it. I could feel it.

I heard them stop on the other side of the clearing. There were three. I could her them breathing.

I knew the Volturi could hear them, too. And most likely see them. I knew they could smell my scent, too. Unless the wood smoke was too strong or if they could only smell Ethan's werewolf scent.

I heard one of the Volturi stop, and the rest followed suit. I sneaked a glance around the tree, and my breath caught.

Standing, in the far off corner of the clearing, I could just make out the forms of the three vampires. Even from across the clearing, I could see their eyes gleam gold and dance in the firelight.

Ethan's ears pricked up as he caught scent of the new vampires. I stared at them, transfixed.

It was Alice, Emmett and Jasper, all standing in synchronized horror, as they watched one of the Volturi throw bits of the vampire into the fire. For all they knew, that vampire could've been me. His body was in such pieces, it seemed impossible that, if put back together properly, could make up a human body.

Then, I saw recognition flash in Jasper's eyes. He'd caught my scent, even from the other side of the clearing.

The other three of the Volturi moved closer towards them.

Emmett went first, followed by Jasper and Alice. When they stopped, barely five feet from each other, I watched as Jasper stood protectively in front of Alice, and kept his eyes trained on the tree I was hiding behind. I knew he couldn't see much of my face, but he knew I was hiding behind it, and he knew that if the Volturi didn't leave soon, I'd probably be stuck here till they left, which could take hours.

"Emmett, Jasper, Alice," I heard Jane say slowly. "What a pleasant surprise."

"I hope that vampire wasn't a friend of yours," a deeper voice added. "Aro would be deeply upset if we angered Carlisle."

"He wasn't a friend," Jasper spoke quickly. "We were just passing by."

Emmett and Alice both stared at him. Jasper gave them a quick look, trying to tell them without speaking that I was safe.

I watched as Jane turned her head slightly, following Jasper's gaze to where I hid.

In an instant, I had an idea. I stood up, motioned with my hand for Ethan to follow as quietly as possible, and ran as fats as I could, so that I was standing in the trees, directly behind the other Cullens.

"What was that?" Jane asked sharply. "There's another vampire here… and one of those weird shape-shifters." I heard her voice turn to disgust."

I strode out of the trees, and stood between Jasper and Alice, with Ethan following behind me.

"He's not a shape-shifter," I spoke calmly. "He's a werewolf from the Quileute pack."

"Same thing," Jane hissed.

I didn't argue. Best no to anger Jane. She could hurt any one of us with her weird powers.

"What are you doing here though?" One of the men asked.

"Looking for Scarlet," Emmett shrugged. "And now that we found her, we best be getting home."

"Scarlet?" all four voices asked in unison. The one vampire who had been burning the dead vampire had been listening in all along.

"Of course," Jasper grinned. "Meet the newest Cullen."

I grinned.

"What was she doing… so far from you all? Even Carlisle wouldn't dare let a newborn out of his sight."

"Scarlet has amazing control, and she makes sure she feeds whenever she has to. She's spent the past two weeks with Ethan, and didn't harm him at all."

"Ethan's… the werewolf?"

I nodded.

"C'mon, Scarlet," Jasper whispered. "Let's go home."

The Volturi turned. As they threw snow on the fire, one of them said, "Make sure the newborn doesn't get away again."

"Give our regards to Carlisle," another added.

Jasper and Emmett nodded tersely in unison, before turning and taking off in the woods. I followed, keeping pace perfectly.

When we were about three or four miles away, Emmett collapsed to the ground laughing.

I had to resist the urge to smack him. I couldn't se what was so funny. Instead, I did manage to sit in the snow next to him. Jasper, Alice, and Ethan all sat down next to me, and waited for Emmett to shut up.

Finally, he sat up, clothes soaked, shaking snow from his hair.

I couldn't resist asking, "Are you good now?"

Emmett nodded. "Sorry. I couldn't help it."

"I can see that. Would you care to tell me what was so funny?"

"The way they acted. Threatening us and all. Like if we didn't watch our back, they were gonna slaughter us without a second glance."

"They could though," Alice pointed out.

"But would Aro let them? I doubt it. Carlisle and him go way back. No way would Aro let them slaughter his best friend, or his family."

I rolled my eyes. "I still don't see what was so funny."

"Jane and the rest of them didn't even know you were there! Only when you ran up behind us did they notice you."

"How is that funny?"

Emmett shrugged. "The fact that those four think they're all high and mighty, but fail to notice the scent of a newborn vampire when she's right next to them is."

I rolled my eyes, again. "That's not funny. That's just stupid. Only you would think something like that was funny."

Jasper shook his head. "C'mon. It's a while till we get back to Juneau, and the sooner we get going, the sooner we get home."

We started running again, the cold air whipping around us, drying the wet parts on our clothes.

While we ran, I had to tell them everything that had happened in the past two weeks. I honestly didn't want to, but it gave me something to do.

That night, we stopped around midnight. Ethan said he could live on a couple hours of sleep, but every one of us just told him to go to sleep.

I asked Alice and Jasper why the Volturi did that, killed vampires the way they did. I know I'd asked that before, but I couldn't honestly remember the answer.

"They're the rulers of our world. If a vampire acts up, killing too many humans and leads to the risk of us being discovered, the Volturi attack."

I nodded. "But it's still weird."

"What would you do if all of us were had been threatened to be exposed to the world by one vampire who couldn't control himself?" Jasper asked. "They've done it millions of times in the South. One vampire threatened to end us all dozens of times. Those were always the weakest ones, the ones that died first in a battle."

"I guess… I can see where they're coming form, now."

"It's a hard thing to accept, at first. If you set one toe out of line, kill one too many humans, you're a goner. If a human discovers us, and can't keep their mouth shut, they, and anyone they've told, is murdered. Once you understand the rules, it's not so bad. But there are some, those who haven't had the rules told to them. Those are the ones who endanger us all."

I sighed. "That sucks. Aren't there reform schools for vampires?" I knew the answer, but I couldn't help but ask.

Emmett laughed. "Of course not. You get one chance, or you're dead. Plain and simple."

I smiled a little at that. "It's still weird. They kill only in extreme situations, but what's their definition of extreme?"

"We had a problem down in Georgia a while back. It took months for the Volturi to intervene. Something similar happened in Seattle. It took a while for the Volturi had decided to step in, and by then, we'd already terminated the lot of them." Jasper sighed.

I nodded. "You told me about that once."

"I told you a lot of stuff, didn't I?"

I nodded. "You really caught me up with your family's past."

Jasper smiled. "You deserved to know every bit of it, kiddo."

I smiled at that, and both Jasper and Alice hugged me. I couldn't wait to get back to Juneau.

We took off just before dawn the next day, running as fast as Ethan could keep up with to get back to Juneau as fast as possible. By midnight that night, we were ten miles away.

I practically had to force Ethan to go to sleep. Now that we were this close, I didn't mind having to wait six hours to see the rest of my family.

When Ethan woke up, we took off, hunting along the way. Ethan brought down this huge buck and ate the meat raw while I drained the blood from its body.

Within a few minutes after we fed, we were a dozen yards from the house. We slowed from a walk to a run, while Emmett just plowed to the house, nearly breaking the door in his haste.

"We're HOME!" I heard him screech.

By the time we got to the door, everyone was surrounding us, hugging me, telling me never to do that again, reprimanding me for making them worry so much, but grinning and smiling and laughing the entire time.

It took awhile for everyone to quiet down enough to ask what had happened.

Jasper quickly explained, and none of them could blame me for it.

I sighed, and collapsed on the couch. It felt good to be home.

Ethan sprawled out across my feet.

I bent down and scratched his ears. I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to him now. He hated La Push. All the memories of his mom, and his sister were too much for him to bear. And hanging out with his two cousins in their already too small house was enough to drive him crazy.

When I was sure Ethan was out cold, and everyone else had left me be, I quietly asked Jasper what was going to happen to Ethan. The past two weeks had been great. I loved spending time with him, and I loved him, period.

Jasper promised to tell me when Ethan woke up. He needed to talk to Alice.

A couple hours later, Alice came downstairs and put some clothes down next to Ethan head.

"He can change into those when he wakes up."

I nodded.

Ethan didn't wale up for a while. Though. Two weeks of little to no sleep was enough to knock him out for several hours.

When he finally woke up, he spotted the clothes, and instantly asked me with his eyes if they were for him. I nodded.

He grabbed the clothes in his teeth, and changed in the bathroom. I couldn't help but shake my head. The dude was seriously compulsive; I had to give him that. I didn't really care if I had to see him turn into a wolf but I guess this was different.

He came back out a moment later, dressed in the baggy T-shirt and jeans.

"Feels good to be human, again," he grinned, and sat down next to me.

I nodded.

Jasper and Alice came downstairs just then.

"Ethan…" my dad said slowly. I looked up at him, frightened. "I know you don't really like La Push, and it must be hard for you with both your mom and sister gone. I talked with Carlisle and Esme, and they have no problem with you staying here with Scarlet."

I stared up at him, first hocked, then ecstatic.

"Seriously?" Ethan asked. "You guys wouldn't care if I stayed?"

"Of course not. We all can see how happy Scarlet is when she's with you."

"Thank you," Ethan replied. "You can't understand how happy I am."

Jasper and Alice shared a smile, before leaving us be.

"I can't believe I get to stay here!"

I smiled, and curled up close to him. He pressed his lips to my hair, and as I sat there, utterly and completely happy, I realized that this was a new begging.

**Yay! Happy ending. I owed you all one. Don't hate me for taking forever. You have no idea how hard these past three months have been. I'll try to post the last chapter sometime this weekend, if not later today. It's not going to be long, but it'll wrap everything up nicely. um... two plus nine equals eleven, so i'd love it if i got eleven reviews for this chapter.  
**

**Review guys! I haven't heard from you all in so long. Later!**


	30. Epilogue

**Okay guys, this is it. Last chapter. I'm sad, but also kinda happy. This clears up a space in my brain, I know that. make sure you go to my profile and vote on my poll. I'm closing it tonight.**

Epilogue

"_What_?" I practically shouted at Jasper.

"I said, you're grounded." Jasper explained.

"I get _that_, what did you say _after_ that?!"

"Um, that you had to clean every window in this house at human speed before you're un-grounded?"

"That'll take a month!" I groaned. "What about hunting?"

"Two weeks, tops," he told me promptly. "'Sides, you've got all night to do everything, too. That'll cut time in half. As far as hunting goes, you can go two weeks without blood. The rest of us do."

I groaned again. "Fine."

It'd been about a week since we'd come back. Ethan decided to go back to La Push for a couple of days to grab his stuff. Esme and Carlisle were generously nice, and offered to replace everything of his, but he refused, saying he didn't want to be a burden. I couldn't blame him.

The past week had been great, and I couldn't wait for Ethan to come back. I was finally happy, and neither Bella nor Rosalie treated me like a bug anymore. They actually acted like I was one of them.

"Hello, Scarlet? You there?" Jasper asked, waving a hand in front of my blank face.

I shook my head slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He handed me a bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels. "Good. Get started."

I groaned, and took the bottle. I had expected something like this to happen, but, still, I hadn't expected _this_.

It took eight days for me to finally finish. I couldn't believe how dirty some of those windows were. I mean, all Esme ever did was clean, so how did they get so dirty?

As I threw the last bottle of Windex down, I heard a knock on the door. I ran downstairs and opened it.

Ethan.

I ran right into his arms, and he hugged me tight. His skin was like fire against mine, but a good fire, the kind that doesn't burn, but comforts. I knew my skin had to feel like ice.

Ethan leaned in to kiss me, right when Emmett and Jasper shout in unison "No kissing!"

I jumped back, and turned. I knew Emmett was joking, but Jasper was serious. "I'm going to kill the both of you if you don't shut up right now."

Emmett, for once, listened. Jasper though, acted just like any dad would. "Go upstairs. I don't need to see that."

I shrugged. "That works."

I grabbed Ethan's hand and dragged him upstairs to my room.

I sat down on my window seat, and Ethan sat down next to me.

I leaned against Ethan's chest, and he wrapped both his arms around me. I sighed, utterly content.

I8 couldn't believe how much had happened in the past year or so. But I new all that was behind me and everything in front of me was the new beginning, of a, hopefully, happy eternity.

**Yay! Happy ending. I hate writing endings, no matter how happy they are. I hope that was okay? Not too bad? Remember, go vote on my poll. I'm closing it before I go to bed tonight, so you have about eleven hours to head over to my profile and vote.**

**Review! I gotta know if that was okay. Um… technically this is the thirtieth chapter, so three reviews, and I will be the happiest person ever!**

**Bye guys!**


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